Apple of my Eye
by Jexxazrez
Summary: A city slicker moves to a rural mansion with his family against his will. There he meets the Apple family humanized and inevitably meets Applejack. She knows his city boy type, doesn't like it. He knows her country girl type, doesn't like it. But when he is forced to work on the Apple Family farm because of being grounded...Will he and Applejack become closer? 2nd person fic.
1. Chapter 1

Apple of my Eye

It was a quiet winter evening for you. You got all your homework done and now you were sitting at your desk quietly playing Minecraft. You loved evenings like this, they were tranquil, relaxing, and above all, Minecraft was your favorite thing to do. Actually, you loved pretty much everything in general about the internet. You spent all your free time on there in your small apartment you shared with your mom and your dad. Both of them worked long hours, and so they had to give you lots of responsibilities to do in the house since they weren't able to do them all on their own. You did them without complaining, but after they were all done, it was right back to the computer. It was like your home-base. You also were a huge gaming nerd as well. You played games like Pokemon, Prototype, Skyrim, and Batman Arkham City. You didn't care for military games because 1. You sucked majorly at them and 2. The online players were rude and often questionably young. You were in the later years of high school; You made good grades for the most part and your two strongest subjects were science and history. You were good at math too, but you didn't like it. You just learned what you needed to in order to pass. Lately though, you haven't been doing so well in math, and your parents threatened you with a monster grounding if you failed it for the year. You didn't worry, however. You were naturally smart and so you figured you could just procrastinate then ace the final exam like you always did. You took a sip of coke you had by your computer desk as the monitor let out a light hum and gave off a gentle glow in the dark room you were in. The snow had blocked out the roads and the clouds that brought the snow blotted out the sun. Despite this, you had your blinds shut and your door shut but not locked. No light came in save for the natural light streaming in from the teeny cracks in the blinds. You were in the middle of building a house out of brick blocks on Minecraft when your dad suddenly came in, having come home from his job about 20 minutes earlier.

"Son, there's something I have to tell you." He came in with his arms crossed and a warm smile on his face.

Your father was a tall man with a short, precise haircut that stopped just above his ears. He had gray hair (formerly brown) and scruff on his chin from not shaving in a while. His eyes were blue, unlike yours, which were hazel just like your mother's. He had a strong, muscular build that you sadly didn't inherit. You had inherited your dad's broad shoulders, yes. However, you were not very strong and inherited your mother's intellect. Your father had a clear skinned face that was slightly tanned, while your mother had fair skin that was heavily freckled. It was much like your own skin, except you didn't have nearly as many freckles since you barely spent any time outside. Your skin was paler and lightly specked with freckles. You also inherited your mom's lack of acne, which you found pretty sweet. Your mom had rich brown hair which you inherited instead of your father's more light brown hair. She was more of a gentle soul who was less industrious than your father, but she was more meticulous and suited for her job as a wedding planner. She had a sweet stereotypical motherly tone to her voice while your father's voice was deep and rich. He used to be a great singer until he got offered a job as a financial advisor. He was a country singer, and always had a soft spot for the countryside; a trait you and he did NOT share. He took the job as a financial advisor for the higher pay and worked happily as a financial advisor your whole life. You got along with your parents fine, so long as your grades were satisfactory. They both got very high educations and expect nothing less from you as well.

"What is it?" You respond in your quiet raspy teenage voice.

Your father gives you an even bigger smile and says, "You know that I've been a financial advisor for as long as you can remember right?"

"Umm…yeah? What about it?" You turn your chair to him and brush your hair from your eyes, listening intently.

Your father chuckles before answering. "Well, I've just been offered a job as being an investment banker! My salary is going to more than triple now!" The excitement is highly apparent in his tone.

"So…what you're saying is that we're rich now?" You cock an eyebrow up, very interested in this all the sudden.

"Basically." Your father responds before tousling your hair.

You can barely contain your excitement! You jump out of your chair and throw your arms around him. "This is so awesome! When do you start this new job! Oh man, oh man mom's going to be so happy when she hears about this!"

"I've already told your mom. She's just as excited as you are. As for when I start? I'm starting this new job in a week from tomorrow. I'll probably get my first paycheck in 6 weeks." He beams.

You can't help but smile bigger than you ever have for as long as you can remember. Your family is rich! Now they can afford to get you things they couldn't before, like that expensive Skyrim hoodie, or that electric synthesizer! Maybe even your own TV for your room! Your family was able to afford to live in this house before, but now you can thrive in it! This is easily the best thing to ever happen to you.

When your mom returns home, there's a family celebration for your dad's new job. You go out to the fanciest restaurant you've ever been to and have the best meal you've had in ages. At home, your parents pop out champagne and you celebrate on Facebook with your friends. Life just doesn't get any better than this.

Months pass, and your dad is doing great with his new job. He even gets to work from home! You see a lot more of him. You don't mind, seeing as how now you can talk more with him when you're bored. You have a lot more money to spend now that your family is wealthy, and that wealth grows more and more every month. You got that Skyrim hoodie and that synthesizer you wanted. Life's pretty great for you. Sure, you still aren't doing well in math, but still, your parents don't have to know, right?

Late May arrives and it's nearly the last day of school. You've been busting your ass studying for the final. You've failed every six weeks prior and you've been doing your best to hide it from your parents. They don't bother finding out for themselves though, they're too busy working their jobs. You've had a harder time paying attention in math class ever since your father got that new job. It's just so distracting, thinking what you could do with all that money. Nontheless, you're determined to ace the final and redeem yourself at the last minute…just like always.

One day, you finished all your homework and exam reviews for the night and you were derping around on tumblr when your dad comes into your room and tells you to meet him in the den. He has another surprise for you; and sounds almost as excited as he did when he first got his new job.

Happy to oblige, you exit out of your tabs and join your family in the den. One you're all there, your father speaks up.

"Son, I have an important announcement to make." He beams. Your mother is beside him, indicating that she's known about the surprise beforehand and wants to see your reaction.

"Tell me, dad, what's so newsworthy that it requires I leave my computer?" You add jokingly. Your mom gives a mild chuckle at your joke while your dad smiles politely.

"I've just bought a mansion over in the countryside! It's more than twice as big as our house now and it's close to a good school district! We are moving in about a month!" Your dad gives you the biggest grin and awaits your happy cheers and praises.

Oh god.

No.

No.

No.

NO!

THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!

You are a city boy, obviously. Living in a spacious, humid, all-the-outdoors-you-can-eat countryside mansion is one of the worst things that could happen to you. And what's worse is that you're moving in a month! That means that you won't even get to enjoy your summer here! School ends in three weeks and you'll have to say goodbye to your friends and everything you've ever known. You can't just say all of this to your dad though, he obviously worked so hard to make this possible for you. Best to pretend to be excited, for now.

"Uhh…that's great dad! Can't wait!" You smile politely.

Your dad senses your lack of enthusiasm, but doesn't think much of it. "Well I'm glad you're happy. Best start packing, a month isn't a very long time, you know." He tousles your hair again.

Ohh boy…

The end of the month rolls around. All your friends are real bummed out that you're leaving the city. You'll sure miss having them over and playing video games together. You took all your finals and passed all of them. Unfortunately, you didn't do well enough on your math final to pass the class overall. Your parents don't know yet, and you plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. All your belongings are packed as well as your parent's belongings. Now the only thing left to do is head on out. As your family drives away from the apartment complex you used to live in, you press your face against the window of the car and sigh longingly.

_I'm going to miss you, old room. I don't regret any of the hours I wasted inside you fapping to porn and playing glorious GLORIOUS online games…I also don't regret having my friends over and trashing you up then spending the entire next day cleaning up their shit…Lastly, I don't regret wiping all my boogers on your walls when I was little. Goodbye…goodbye…goodbye…_

6 and a half hours later…

You must've fallen asleep sometime during the trip because your mom was waking you up, telling you that they had arrived at the new house. You stretched slowly and arched your back, then rubbed your eyes and swung your legs out of the car. Your eyes fell upon the new mansion you were staying in. By Gandalf's beard, it was worse than you imagined. It was red brick with white finishings and stepping stones that led to the front door. Around the side you could see the yard that was bordered by a white picket fence and when you walked towards the fence for a closer look, you saw that the backyard was enormous! Heck, the backyard alone might've been bigger than your old house. To anyone else, it was a beautiful and well built home. But to you, it was an end to your whole life that you loved so much. You now regret your dad getting that job in the first place. Why didn't he get fired? Why not save all that money for something else? But there was nothing you could do at this point; this was your new life. You had to either adapt, or perish. You weren't sure which one you'd rather do.

The moving people unpack everything in your house to the appropriate rooms. All that you had to do was go to your new room and unpack all your things. You walked up the stairs leading to the front door and walked inside. It was spacious with luxurious tile floors and marble decorations. There was soft cream colored carpet that covered the living room floor and a smooth marble floor covering the kitchen. The countertops were granite and the dining room table, which was connected to the kitchen, was covered in a scarlet red tablecloth. It looked very pretty; even you had to admit that. Nonetheless, you still resented this house with every bone in your body. You walked upstairs to see your new room. You walked inside where all your boxes were and found a carpeted room with white walls and your bed and desk already set up. It was okay. You didn't hate your room since it was much bigger than your previous one, but it lacked character. That was something your room had that you loved more than anything. You figured you should unpack your stuff at least. Perhaps your room would look better that way. You started with your clothes and filled up your closet with all your various shirts, hoodies, jeans, shorts, and the like. You didn't have many clothes for hot weather, something that would definitely come to bite you in the ass later this summer. You were going to have to go shopping later with your mom. Next thing you unpacked were your personal belongings such as your pictures, old toys, gaming systems, awesome synthesizer. and finally your beloved computer. You set up the computer and powered it on. The connection was very shitty, not to your surprise. You were in the country for god's sake. Of course there's poor reception here. At least it worked, and you were able to surf the web. You started to mess around on tumblr for a little bit before getting back to your unpacking. After a while, you could hear your mother cooking dinner downstairs.

_They must've finished unpacking the kitchen stuff… _you muse to yourself.

You finish unpacking everything. Your new room looks much better now, but it still feels weird being in it. You're just going to have to get used to it. You go downstairs and see that your mom has fixed teriyaki stir-fry for dinner. It's one of your favorite foods. You see that there are still many many boxes that need unpacking, but you and your family would get to that tomorrow. For now, it was time to eat.

After an awkward conversation at dinner you regret participating in, you head on off to bed to mope yourself to sleep. You shut the door of your room and look out your window. You see something big and red… upon squinting your eyes you focus in and see a large red barn that's partially blocked by trees. What kind of trees? You couldn't tell. Your experience tells you that they're some kind of fruit tree, but you don't know which. It's obviously not one that blooms in summer. You wonder who lives there…probably some weirdo farmers that don't know what the internet is. You lay your head down on your pillow and slowly drift off into an un-restful slumber…


	2. Meeting the Apple Family

You awoke to the smell of bacon. Man, your parents knew you so well! Well...except for the fact that they moved into a place you were _not_ comfortable with. Anyway, you headed downstairs and saw all the rooms that were on either side of the hallway. Your room was at the end of the hallway, and the hallway lead to the stairs. This house was enormous; it had 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, two rooms that could be used as an all purpose room, an office, and a laundry room. At least your washing machines wouldn't bother you while you ate anymore, since at your old house the washer/dryer was next to the table you ate at. The kitchen was huge, it had an island, a bar, and plenty of counter top to place appliances such as blenders and toasters. It had a double-decker oven and a large fridge with an ice maker and everything. If there was one thing that was good about this house; it was the luxury. This was still new to you though, so best not to get too comfortable...

Your mom greeted you with a warm smile as she moved around pieces of bacon on the griddle that crackled and sizzled as they cooked. A hot drop of grease hit your mother's arm, but she barely reacted other than a flinch. She was more used to it than you, you supposed. Last time you got bacon grease on your arm you yelped out in surprise. Your dad teasingly called you a wimp for that. You were less of a man than your dad in every way. You weren't nearly as strong as he was, he was made to work long hours in the heat and you weren't, and he didn't get hurt as easily. He wasn't as 'accident prone' as you were.

Speaking of your father, he just came out from his office ready for work. Of course, when you work at home, 'ready for work' means that you get out of bed and take a quick shower. He sat down next to you as your mother served you both up 3 slices of bacon and eggs sunny side up; just the way you both liked it. She served herself two slices of bacon and a piece of toast, no butter; just the way she liked it. Breakfast was surprisingly quiet, however. Usually it was a cheerful conversation between your mom and dad on what was going on today, and you would quietly mope in the background. Today however, there was a strange silence only broken by the clinking of forks to plates. You were still moping as usual, being a surly teenager in a place where he doesn't belong, but your parents didn't ask you anything like they normally did. Must be the move, you suppose.

The quiet breakfast is interrupted by a ring of the doorbell followed by a polite knock. Everyone stopped eating and looked up at the same time. Your father spoke first.

"...I'll get it..." He said quietly.

You and your mom follow him as he approaches the door. When he opens it, you find yourselves face to face with who you presumed to be your neighbors living on the farm next door. There was a small girl with red hair and a pink bow in it who didn't look to be a day over ten, a big burly man who looked approximately 26 or so with orange hair (dyed perhaps?) and a piece of straw in his mouth. He had a calm face and a relaxed posture but you couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by him. In the center of the group you saw an old woman probably in her seventies wearing a happy grin and giving you a friendly smile. In her old bony hands she held a loaf of bread of some sort. She reminded you of the stereotypical grandmother in every way. And finally to the right of them all there was a girl who looked to be about your age. She wore an orange top with apples imprinted on it, she had golden blonde hair and her cheeks were riddled with a few freckles. Her body was toned and fit, her eyes, emerald green and vivid. She had on cowboy boots and jean shorts that were short, but still decent. You respected her for that, since although you were a guy, you did not like it when girls wore slutty clothing. You couldn't help but find this girl rather attractive; however, your guy sense was tingling, telling you that she was waaaaaay out of your league. You silently agreed with your guy sense, and decided to just _try_ and ignore her. ('Try' being the key word here.)

The old lady spoke up. "Welcome to this 'ere part of the country! M'family and I live just over there on Sweet Apple Acres." The small girl gestured towards the farm you were looking at last night. Then the old lady continued. "We're so happy to have some neighbors here and just wanted to give ya a proper Apple Family welcome." She held out the loaf and my mother took it graciously.

Your father spoke next. "Well it's nice to meet you, Apple Family. What should we call you individually?" He raised an eyebrow at the outlandish family.

"You can call me Granny Smith, everyone does ohohoho." She chuckled before pointing to the tall burly man. "That there's Big Mac, he's the major worker round here."

"Eeyup." The man approved in a deep, rich voice that was even deeper than your own fathers'.

"Hi there! I'm Applebloom. I help Granny Smith with up-keeping the house and taking care of the livestock! Only the small ones though...Big Mac says I gotta get older before I can handle the cows and horses..." The small girl piped up.

"Applebloom?" Your mother questioned. "That's a strange name, but it's cute. I think it fits her very well!"

"Thanks ma'am!" Applebloom beamed, giving a super innocent smile. She had a southern accent in her tone, seemed fitting as well.

"And this here is Applejack, but you can call her AJ." Applebloom continued, pointing to her older sister.

"Umm...Howdy?" She spoke in a southern accent so thick you couldn't _even_ cut it with a knife.

"Well it's nice to meet you all. This here is our son, (She says your name)"

"Nice to meet y'all!" Applebloom beams.

"Ahaha, you too. Gee, back in my younger days..." Your dad begins.

_Oh boy... here we go again with another one of his reminiscent 'flashbacks'..._

"Back then I was a country singer that used to live in a place much like this one. My family and I, we'd take care of our animals and haul out crops to the marketplace to sell. My sister and I would ride on the back of our pickup truck and play guitar, oh those were the days. If you ever need help, I'm sure my son and I would be able to lend a hand. Well, my son definitely can help. I have to work most days of the week." He finished.

You widen your eyes when your dad implies that you probably will have to end up helping this kooky family with their manual labor tasks. You simply were not cut out for that kind of work, and furthermore, your time would be better spent playing video games. You thought of protesting, then thought better of it. It would be rather rude.

"Whelp, I reckon we could always use s'more help on the farm." Big Mac responds in a neutral tone.

"Good to know." Your father looks toward you, and you don't bother looking back out of disgust.

As you were busy not looking at your dad, you noticed AJ was looking at you with those gorgeous green eyes. She saw that you were wearing your Space Invaders T-shirt and cargo shorts. She noticed your pale skin and your very VERY sparse freckles. She could tell that you just moved from the city just by looking at you. Her gaze was judgmental and it was almost as if she was mentally telling you; "I know yer type, city boy. Y'all don't belong here." It made you uneasy to your stomach and the idea of potentially working on that farm didn't help the gut wrenching feeling either. Having to work where a pretty yet cold girl would boss you around? (at least, you assumed that's what she'd be doing) It sounded like the worst possible thing right now.

The Apple family say their goodbyes except for AJ who gives a polite nod and saunters off back to the barn with her family. When they're out of sight, your father shuts the door and says to you:

"Well, now we know what you're doing this summer to make up for that math grade."

_Wha...? ...oh no..._

"I saw your math grade on my email this morning and I'm not pleased. I'm going to call Big Mac up tonight and tell him to give you a working schedule. Also, you can forget video games since you'll be so busy working the farm that you won't have time." Your father gives you a stern stare that sets you off-balance.

"Aw come on, you can't be serious! You know that I'm not fit for that kind of work..." You whine to him.

"Then you'll learn. And think of it this way, you'll be getting lots of excersize, you'll be fed good food by a very kind family, and they also have a daughter your age..." He winked at the last part for emphasis.

"She's not really my type..." You lie.

"Doesn't change anything. You still have to do this."

You groan and storm off into another direction. This is quite easily the worst thing that's ever happened to you. You are on manual labor duty tomorrow! You don't want to have anything to do with that kooky family, or that farm girl. You just wanted to run away. Of course, that would be a stupid idea since you are new to this territory and you do NOT have the stamina for it. Why was this happening to you?

The answer of course was; _"Because you are a lazy bastard."_

You sigh in defeat upon realization of this fact. You were lazy, you were overconfident, and this was your punishment. There was no way around it. You were going to have to face the music and live through this ordeal. You were feeling a little better now...

...a little...

Your father talked to Big Macintosh that evening, he set up arrangements for you to work every day from seven AM until 5 PM. Why the long shift? Your dad took grades VERY seriously. Big Mac had no problem, however. But he didn't say much over the phone besides a simple 'Eeyup' or a 'Nope.' Occasionally he'd say a complete sentence, but he was obviously a man of few words. After getting chewed out by your mother some, you barely ate your dinner, leftover stir fry, and headed off to bed. Again, before you fell asleep, you looked out the window at that barn again. It looked so much scarier now that you knew you were going to have to work there. Again, nothing you could do about it. You weren't one to question things, especially if they were decisions your parents made. After quietly cursing yourself for being such a lazy bum, you attempt to drift off to sleep...

_1 AM_

You're still in bed, wide awake and your thoughts are being filled with possible scenarios of tomorrow. You pictured yourself waking up at an ungodly hour like 6:30 to get ready for the farm work. You pictured Applebloom laughing at you as you toiled away in the fields and not being able to lift a single bale of hay. You pictured Big Mac coaching you to work harder as if he was your slave master, and you also pictured Applejack. You pictured her many different ways. Sometimes, you pictured her calling you a 'yeller-bellied city slicker...' and other times, such as now, you began to picture her differently...

You pictured her long flowing golden blonde hair swaying across her back in counter-motion to the movement of her curvy luscious hips, you pictured her eyes staring into yours seductively, your mind giving her overly-proportioned breasts, you imagine her perhaps getting too hot whilst working and in response she begins to remo...

You mentally slap yourself in the face repeatedly. _What the hell are you thinking, man? No way she'd do that! You can't like her like that. It's just...not gonna work out..._

The other side of your mind responds with, _Eh, you have a point. But I can dream can't I?_

The former side chuckles. _Fine, might as well enjoy the show..._

Eventually, you fall into a deep slumber...


	3. Losing the First Half of Your Sanity

_6:22 am_

It was so early, the morning dew on the lush green grass outside was still glistening from the very gentle light cast upon from the rising sun. The majority of the sky was still visibly purple, and it went from red to orange to progressively more yellow as it went east. The first few rays of sun hit your window and by chance, a ray landed on your eye, waking you up. You rubbed your eyes and looked at the clock.

_Aw hell no! Not getting up at Ass O' Clock..._ You think to yourself, then go back to bed, putting your pillow snugly over your head.

_6:30 am_

"GOOD MORNING! RISE AND SHINE, FARM BOY!" An all too cheery voice called from the other side of your door.

It was your mother, the same woman who was used to getting up at 5am every day for her job. Of course, you're a teenager, so getting up early wasn't your cup of tea _at all_. Using your early morning rationality, you thought that maybe...just _maybe_...if you didn't answer, then she'd go away.

_45 seconds later..._

_**BANG BANG BANG**_

"COME ON, FIRST DAY OF SLAVE LABOR! FIRST DAY OF SLAVE LABOR!" Your mother continued, speaking notably louder this time.

Whelp, that didn't work. You tried to muster the will to get out of bed.

_Okay man, get out of bed on three. One...Two... THREE!_

You didn't move.

_Okay, this time I'll move. No, really I'll move this time. One... Two... THREE!_

Again, no dice.

_Come on, man! You can do this! You've done it before...OK! This time for sure... Get ready...ONE...TWO...THR-_

You are cut off by a loud banging at the door.

_**BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG**_

"OPEN UP, LEST YOU WANT TO GET UP EARLIER TOMORROW!" Your dad bellows from the outside of your door.

That did it, you sprang out of bed squawking "I'M UP, I'M UP, NO NEED FOR THAT I'M UP!"

"Good." Your dad responds. "Be downstairs in 20 minutes. I want a 10 minute shower from you then it's off to work, slave."

"Ohohoho...You're funny dad." You retort, getting ready to shower. He doesn't respond, but you hear his footsteps heading away from your door. If there's one thing you learned about your parents...it's that they don't kid around. You headed into your nice marble and linoleum tile bathroom and turned the hot water on. Then, your clothes off of your body, you check yourself out in the mirror. You looked pathetic. There were crease marks made by your sheets from you sleeping with your covers tightly wrapped around you and they showed up pink in contrast to your pale skin. Your hair was long and greasy, giving you that familiar feeling of being dirty when you just woke up. The sand in your eyes was clumped up and made you feel even more tired. You brushed it away and didn't feel any better. The water was hot now, and you felt it with your fingers...too hot. You turned the cold knob a quarter and waited for a bit. After feeling the temperature again, you decided it was perfect for showering and stepped in. The hot water rushed down your filthy oily skin and a feeling of rejuvenation washed over you. The hot water felt like it was starting to loosen up all the gunk in your hair and you began to relax.

_You were going to enjoy this shower..._

Afterwards, you stepped out of the shower, steam billowing from either side of you as you grabbed the towel on the rack and began to furiously dry yourself off. You were thoroughly awake now, and you smelled just fine now thanks to your favorite 'Men's body wash.' You had washed all the grease in your hair out and so needless to say, you felt fresh. You gave your mouth a quick rinse with mouthwash and spat it in the sink. Then, you entered your room and threw on an outfit. It was a black '1-up' shirt with a green mushroom on it and you paired it with some camouflage shorts. It wasn't your best outfit, but hey, it was there and it fit you. Nothing else really mattered to you at that point. You ran a comb through your hair to at least look mildly presentable and headed downstairs.

Your dad was there to greet you when you reached the bottom. "Hey there not-so-hired hand." He joked.

"Again dad, you're funny." You reply.

"Since it's nearly time for your shift to start, you're not going to have time for breakfast. But don't worry, I'm sure the Apple family will be so nice as to provide you with some breakfast once you get there."

You wince upon the mention of the accursed family. Sure, they've done nothing wrong, but your imagination made you fear them to no end last night. All the possible tasks you were bound to fail at...It clouded your mind.

"I can see that you're barely able to contain your enthusiasm." Your father says sarcastically. "But it's time for you to head on out, so off you go, kid." He opens the door and gestures you out. You obey reluctantly.

As you're heading towards the barn, another little monologue runs through your head.

_Whelp, it's off to your doom, soldier. This here's a battlefield. A battlefield you can't hope of navigating through safely. You're gonna sweat, you're gonna work, you may even cry, but it's all your fault, lazy ass. The best thing you can do is to take it in stride._ Motivated by your little speech in your head, you started to march with more of a spring to your step.

When you finally do reach the farm after walking down the winding path leading to the gate, you're greeted by Granny Smith. She's knitting by the front door and she gives you a gentle wave.

"Well looky here, it looks like our help for the day has arrived, eheeheehee. Big Mac's waiting for you near the tool shed. Just head over there, ya can't miss it, sonny boy." She chuckles then points to your left. You walk in a mild haze, feeling tired again and wishing you were still in bed. That shower helped, but now it's 'awake power' was failing. You were gonna have to muscle through this if you were to keep yourself from falling asleep in a bag of feed or whatever.

When you reach the shed, you see Big Mac carrying some bushels of apples of various colors such as golden delicious and gala apples into a barn that was next to the shed. He saw you and gave you a nod signifying that he acknowledged your presence. He set the bushels in the barn and beckoned you over. You complied and he spoke to you in that deep, strong voice.

"It looks like we got plenty 'a apples harvested so far, so you and AJ are going to carry those there bales of hay to the livestock barn then feed all th' livestock. Simple enough?" He kept a perfectly calm expression the entire time.

_I get to try and carry heavy things under the supervision of AJ? Perfect. Fucking perfect._ "Perfect, where do I begin?" You say with faked enthusiasm.

Big Mac picked up on your sarcasm and responded with, "Jus' head on inside the barn and you'll see AJ. She'll tell ya what to do." He then went off to carry more bushels in the barn.

You walked into the barn and saw Applejack. She was leaning against the barn wall and sitting on top of a bale of hay. She had both of her feet crossed and in front of her, her hands resting behind her stetson hat; which was pulled down so that it covered her eyes. In her mouth, she chewed on a piece of straw. Even you had to admit, she looked really hot in that pose. However, your guy sense told you to just ignore that and ask her for briefing on your assignment.

You approached Applejack, your heart pounding in your chest as you did due to your nerves. She obviously heard you approaching and looked up, locking eyes with you in an intimidating gaze. She spoke to your in her rich southern accent.

"You lost, sugarcube?" She asked, cracking a half grin.

"Actually, yes. I am lost. Could you show me the way back to my house? Pretty please?" You joke, giving her a wry smile.

The half grin disappeared. "Har har, very funny. Look, Big Mac is assigning us to bring these here bales of hay to the barn where all the livestock are kept. Now, I know you and yer type, so I'll be keepin' a close eye on you the whole time, we clear?" She hopped down the bale of hay and jabbed your chest to punctuate her statement. Her emerald green eyes were staring directly into yours.

Suddenly, you were pretty intimidated by this girl. "Ehehe...Crystal." You respond meekly.

"Good, now git to it." She then picks up a bale of hay, which is about as big as a laundry basket, slings it over her shoulder, and walks out of the barn.

You decide to follow her example and wrap your hands around the twine that held the hay together. You lifted with all your might, determined to show her your worth. Alas, you could not lift the bale very high before you had to put it down since the twine dug into your skin and hurt your hands. Man, this was embarrassing. You then try again, this time shuffling your hands under the bale and attempting to lift it up like a cafeteria tray. You strained and strained...but you only ended up hurting your back. If only you had breakfast...maybe you'd be able to do this...maybe.

Meanwhile, Applejack just re-entered the barn, having put the first bale where it had to go. She saw you still trying to lift that one bale and burst out lauging. "BWAHAHAHAHA! Partner, are you still havin' trouble lifting that _one_ bale!" She approached you and gave your rear end a little kick with her boot by bending her knee back as she walked past you.

That action didn't sit well with you at all... "HEY! If you do that again, I'll..."

"What? Yer gonna beat me in a game of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3?" She gave a wry smile and lowered her eyes.

"...You know what? I might just do that." You narrowed your eyes at her, countering her sarcasm with some sarcasm of your own.

"Yer worse than I imagined, city slicker." She then proceeded to pick up the bale you had been having so much trouble lifting over her head and placed it over her shoulder, then she handed it to you so you could have a better grip of it. You held out your arms and she let go of the bale.

_**WHUMPH!**_

The bale fell to the floor and you hit your head against the bale going down with it.

Again, Applejack started laughing. "BAHAHAHA! This is just too funny. Ya can't even lift a bale of hay." She laughed so hard she snorted at the end. Although you found that laugh pretty cute, you were thoroughly pissed right now. Nobody gets to shit on your pride like that! You puff your chest out and walk in real close to her.

"So what if I can't, huh? At least I'm in the advanced placement courses at my school!" You bragged.

"Well you must not be doin' a very good job from what Big Mac told me." She smirked at you.

You groaned. "That was only my math grade, math is hard." You say, defending yourself.

She lets out a sigh. "Well I'll have you know, I'm pretty good at math m'self." She boasts, adjusting the stetson hat on her head.

"No ya ain't sis, ya barely passed math remember?" Applebloom chimed in, she was hauling a bag of feed to what looked like the chicken coup. Applejack began to blush...

"AHA! Caught in the lie, miss AJ. Looks like we're both in the same boat then." You attempt to poke her nose but she grabs your forearm and constricts it, surprising you.

"Look, city boy. Nobody calls me AJ Except my family an' friends. You don't fit in neither category. And another thing, I may not be as smart as you, city boy, but I sure as sugar am a might stronger than you I reckon, so I suggests that ya not get too cocky with me." She has surprising strength since you are not able to pull your arm away.

You start to get flustered as you try to save the circulation in your arm. "Ahhhh okay Applejack, you win..." You start tugging your arm away from her death-grip. "Just...let...go...of...my...arm...now..."

She lets go with a smirk and you fall on your back from her sudden release. "Glad that's taken care of, now since ya can't even do the simple task of movin' bales of hay...I want ya to feed the pigs over there. We got their slop over in that there tub, the one with the bucket next to it. Your job is to take the slop in that bucket, carry it over to the trough in their pen, and jus' dump it in. Got it, partner?" She grabs your hand and pulls it up, yanking you off the ground.

You rub your arm and back away from her. "Yeah, got it..." You then power walk to the tub and retch. It smells absolutely awful. How can pigs eat this stuff? Aren't these things turned to bacon? If bacon ate these things, you were going to seriously reconsider your favorite breakfast food.

You fill up the bucket with the slop and carry it in your right arm. It's still pretty heavy, but it beats trying to carry those bales of hay any day. You see Applejack pick up another bale and sling it over her shoulder and walk out. As she walks out, you can't help but notice how nice her ass is...

_...I know I shouldn't be thinking this but...dat ass..._ You muse to yourself.

You start to check it out for a little, then you catch yourself staring perhaps a little too long and shake your head vigorously. Applebloom notices this as she just exited the chicken coup and asks you, "Hey mister, are you tired or somethin? Yer head was shakin' there...I do that when I'm tired and tryina wake up."

"Uhhh...yeah, that's it! I'm just... tired." You lie. Then you see Big Macintosh looking at you and your heart rate increases drastically. Did he see you checking out AJ? Oh dear lord, what would he do? He could easily pound you into a pulp...

Your fears are put to rest when he chuckles lightly and shakes his head. Then, he goes back to his task at hand.

_...Whew...disaster averted._ You sigh in relief. You were going to have to be more careful...

Finally, you reached the pig pen and you opened the gate slowly, taking great care to undo the latch on the gate first. The pigs looked like they were trying to escape, but you managed to keep their efforts at bay. Once inside, you trudged your way through the mud and made all kinds of groans and various other sounds of despair as you saw your shoes get all muddy and wet.

"Wha? Aw come on! These are my favorite shoes! Oh man, awww ssshhhhhhhitake mushrooms." You say quickly when you notice Applebloom watching you.

"It's not that bad, ya just gotta get used to the smell is all." She says with an innocent smile. You though Applebloom was a sweet girl, but she wasn't at all helpful.

The moment finally arrives and you reach the slop trough in the middle of the pen. (God dammit, why did it have to be the middle!) You dump the slop in and the pigs all start to dig in. You wince at how much gusto they have in eating the horrid mixture. You trudge towards the exit and shut the pen door, then immediately try and wipe off your shoes in the mud. You were sweating now, and the sun was beating down mercilessly on your black shirt, conducting heat and making you even more uncomfortable. That shower felt useless now. You get off what mud you can and make your way back to the barn and rest on a simple wooden chair in there. You start to relax, enjoying the shade when Applebloom runs up to you holding a glass of ice cold lemonade. She hands it to you and smiles.

"Come on, Granny Smith just made a batch of her special lemonade and mini apple tarts! Come try some!"

You thanked Applebloom and downed the lemonade in one swig. You then followed Applebloom to underneath a tree where Granny Smith had a large pitcher of lemonade and small tarts sitting beside the pitcher. Your mouth watered at the food before you, you were so hungry right now, you could eat a horse. Maybe even one of the horses on this farm...

Granny Smith beckons you over. "Well now sonny boy, Big Mac here has been tellin' me how hard you've worked, and so I must insist that you try some of these apple tarts. It's the special family recipe, and you deserve it plus some lemonade for all the hard work you've been doin'."

You look at Big Mac who only grins and says "Eeyup."

You didn't do diddly-squat! (save for feed the pigs) And yet Big Mac told Granny Smith that you had been working hard. You liked Big Mac all the sudden, you figured that he understood your situation and so he gave you a break. You smile at him and mouth 'thank you.' He nods and gestures towards the tray of tarts. You excitedly pick one up and give it a taste. Your taste buds are assaulted with the sweetness of the apples mingled with the flaky buttery-ness of the rest of the dessert. It has hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and various other spices. It's perfect, and your appetite is satiated once you finish the tasty tart. You then have another glass of lemonade and Applejack enters your field of vision, causing you to almost choke on your lemonade.

"What have we got here? Lemonade and tarts..." She notices. "Looks like our not-so-hired hand here is enjoyin' them, ain't he?" She then slaps your back, and you almost choke on your lemonade again.

You hastily finish the lemonade and speak. "*GASP* If you slap my back one more time, I swear to god I'll-"

"Kick my butt at Mario Kart?" She finishes with a smirk.

"..." You are at a loss for words. Everyone except you shares a laugh.

"Now don't tease him too much, AJ." Granny Smith said to Applejack.

"Whatever you say, Granny." Applejack responded whilst folding her arms.

"THE PIGS ARE LOOSE! THE PIGS ARE LOOSE!" Applebloom squealed.

_Everyone's gaze was directed at you..._


	4. There Goes the Other Half

Location: Apple Family Orchard, 9:30 AM

_The pigs were loose...Fucking perfect. I closed the gate...Why were they loose? I mean, unless I didn't...oh crap..._

You remembered the latch you opened when you entered, but you don't remember re-doing the latch. Obviously, the pigs escaped from your little mishap.

_SONNOVABITCH! _You mentally curse yourself.

"Hold on Applebloom, I'm comin'!" Applejack reassures her sister as she rolls up her sleeves. Then, she turns to you with a death glare and points at your face.

"An' YOU! Ya good-fer-nothin' varmit can come with, seeing as how yer gonna help me round up every single one of 'em."

"Hey now, why do you have to be so harsh, it was just an accident is all..." Granny Smith came to your rescue.

Applejack seemed to calm down. "Fair enough, but he should still help us catch 'em right?" She had a stern look on her face.

"Well, I suppose so, just so he knows what to do in case them pigs get loose again."

_Gee, thanks a lot, Granny..._

"ALRIGHT! Come on, city boy!" She bellowed. You followed her out of fear rather than respect. She brushed her long blonde hair done in a ponytail to the side and high-tailed off to the barn. You could barely keep up and were panting loudly behind her.

She dashed in the barn and came out moments later with...a lasso! Your jaw was agape as she came out with the rope in hand.

"Is that...a lasso!"

"What gave ya the hint?" Applejack responded, twirling her lasso in her hand. "Now, I suggest ya go find them pigs before I use this here lasso on you!"

You ran out of the barn as fast as your legs could carry you. From the little amount of time you spent with Applejack, you knew one thing about her, and that was that she didn't kid around. And at the moment, the idea of her tying you up didn't appeal to you. Ohh no, you should save that for your late night fantas-

_**SLAP**_

You actually slapped yourself in the face for that one. You couldn't let your feelings for her flow freely like that, because then, it would turn into you desiring her. Then as your attraction to her grew, so would your anguish over knowing she could never feel the same way. You learned that lesson the hard way. It was best if you kept your feelings for her at bay. Still, you knew you were going to have to deal with them somehow...If you weren't next door neighbors to them, it might not be so bad. But no, you live RIGHT NEXT TO HER. And on top of that, you have to spend most of the day with her every day. That made your stomach queasy and your legs ache. Or maybe you were just sick to your stomach and your legs were tired. Anyway, it was time you snapped back to reality. You focused back to the real world and saw one of the pigs. You noticed that they had three. One was pink with brown spots, one was black with pink spots, and one was brown all over. The one you saw was the black one with pink spots. It was huge and surprisingly quick for a pig. You ran as fast as you could and leapt for it.

**_SPLAT_**

You landed in the mud empty handed. The bugger slipped from your grasp and as heading off towards where Big Macintosh was. You watched in awe as the pig ran by Big Mac, only to have him scoop the pig up and start to carry it off towards the pen.

"This one's a feisty one." Big Mac said in a calm tone.

As he made his way to the pig pen, Applejack had a pink pig with brown spots nestled in her arms, her lasso preventing it from escaping. Man, she must be a natural at that lasso. There's no way you could use that lasso for anything, let alone catch a slippery pig.

"Hey city boy, that brown one headed off to the barn. He's the easiest ta catch, so I trust ya can at least catch _him_right?"

She trusted you to do something? Meh, okay. "Alright, I won't let you down AJ." You said just to tease her.

If looks could kill, you'd be on the ground bleeding from every orifice of your body with the look Applejack gave you...

"Eheheh..I mean Applejack." _Must not be in the mood for teasing, better do as she says or she becomes a health hazard. _You think quietly to yourself.

You rush in the barn and see the final pig. Unfortunately, you start having second thoughts about retrieving it. It was swimming around in the slop tub having the time of it's life. It seems to look at you with a smug grin, sensing that you are now reluctant to go retrieve it.

_You, mister pig, are going to be the death of me._

With faint courage, you walk up to the slop tub and hold your breath. Then, you reach your hands in the slop pen and bend down severely and shift your hands under the pig and start to lift.

The pig, surprised that you're trying to end it's fun, squeals and shifts around in your grasp, trying to defy your efforts to lift it out. You are running out of air and so you exhale. You attempt to inhale from your mouth, but gag since you can somehow taste the air, and it's not pleasant. You gag and forcibly inhale through your nose, causing you to lose your concentration more. The smell is so bad, and you're getting exposed to it for longer than you can handle.

Finally succumbing to the horrendous stench, you faint, your head landing in the slop. The last thing you hear is Applebloom screaming...

You wake up to the sensation of a cold jet of water being blasted across your face.

"I'M AWAKE ACKBLPTH!" You spring up and spit out the water that went into your mouth. You turn your head to the right and see Applejack with a hose in hand. As soon as you two lock eyes, she sprays again.

"DANGIT APPLEJACK THE WATER'S COLD!" You complain, shaking your head quickly.

"Aw, would the city-wity boy prefer it ta be hot water?" She teases, cocking her head to one side in mock worry.

"...Screw that, I'll stick with cold..." You hang your head in defeat. Applejack gives a cruel smile before blasting you again.

In spite of how cold it is, there's a refreshing feel to it. You're being cooled off, albeit very roughly, and the... *shudder* ...slop on your skin is being washed away. A weak smell lingers from where it soaked into your clothes, but it's bearable. However, it would help if Applejack wasn't enjoying it so much. As you're being pulverized with blast after blast of water, Granny Smith walks in with a few towels.

"Well now, it seems yer awake at last. We were worried sick 'bout ya since Applebloom said you'd drowned in the slop pen. Why, even AJ was mighty worried I reckon... since ya seem to be not real...cut out fer this, I'll let ya take a break, sonny. Consider it an apology fer not lookin' after ya properly. Jus' wait 'till AJ finishes gettin' off all that slop."

You couldn't help but be touched by Granny Smith's kindness. "Why thanks... heheh. I think that's just what I need right now..." You try and act your most pathetic for her and let out a few coughs. Granny Smith nods and leaves you to continue to be sprayed.

_**SPRIIIIIITZZZZ**_

Applejack gets you in the rear, sending a cold shock there that makes you yelp from surprise.

"Hey! Was that really necessary!" You snapped, rolling over to protect your rear from any more surprise water-sex.

She giggles. "Just doin' my job, don't mind me." She sprays you across the chest to get off any more slop she missed.

You then remember something Granny Smith said earlier...

"So, Granny tells me you were worried about m-**ACKPLSHTAGH**" You are sprayed in the face again. Before you finish, you notice a blush had burned across her face.

"W-well yer no good of a farm help if yer dead, ain'tcha?" She replies with a nervous grin, the blush still present.

"Would you STOP SPRAYING MY FACE! IT'S CLEAN!" You shout out of frustration.

"Hmmmmmm...Nah." She sprays you again with a sadistic grin plastered to her face.

"Why must you make my life so miserable..."

"Cuz you were brought here to help and you ain't helping any."

"Not my fault I can't handle the same things you've been doing for years."

"Then I reckon you'll learn." Applejack gives you one more spray to the face before she throws you the towels. "Now git dry, city boy." She drops the hose and walk off.

You get up without hesitation and watch her walk away, using all your available willpower not to stare at her ass. You dry your face off and notice the hose on the ground. Suddenly, an evil idea pops into your head. You creep toward the hose, pick it up, aim at Applejack, and pull the handle.

**_SQURIIITTTTTZZZZZ_**

The jet of water is a direct hit to her lower back.

"WHAT IN TARNATION!" Applejack turned around, only to see you drop the hose and run as fast as your legs can carry you, laughing hysterically.

"GIT BACK HERE, YA YELLER BELLIED GOOD-FER-NOTHIN' SACK OF SKIN! I'LL TURN YA INTO A BAG OF CHICKEN FEED ONCE I CATCH YOU!" She bolts after you, her green eyes seething with rage.

You don't pay attention, though. You probably did the stupidest thing ever, but the funniest thing since you've arrived here. You're terrified at this point, AJ shouting threats at you as you literally run for your life, but it only encourages you to go faster.

Applejack gains on you with surprising speed, and your lungs are starting to fail you. You've never ran quite this fast in your life and it seems...that it's just not enough. With a final burst of energy, you run faster than before and begin to actually go faster than Applejack.

That is...until you feel a rope wrap around you...

"OH COME ON, THAT'S CHEATING!" You shout as Applejack pulls the rope back and catches you in her arms.

"Shut up city boy, I got you where ya can't fight back, so it looks like yer at my complete mercy." She gives you a smug grin.

You quietly begin to think dirty thoughts after she says that...what? You're a guy, what else would you do? You think of her straddling you and pressing her lips to yours, her freckled nose pressing against yours. You're restrained by the rope, but you are fine with that in this case...

Your fantasy train is interrupted by Applejack beginning to drag you to the barn.

"Oh god, where are you taking me?" You start to panic.

"Hmmm...since ya like that there _slop pen_so much, I figure I'd just drop you off there." She holds her nose high and smirks.

You have a mini heart attack. "SAY WHAT!"

"Relax, city boy, I'm just playin'. But I don't think yer gonna like what's comin' to ya." She has a playful grin, which makes you even more nervous.

"Ohmygoddon'thurtmeplease!" You sputter, struggling uselessly in the lasso. She does a mean knot!

"Oh no, I ain't gonna hurt ya, what I'm gonna do is _much_worse..." She pulls you up and pins you against the wall, further raising the fear and at the same time the sexual tension inside you.

"AJ...what're you doing?" An innocent voice asks out of purient curiosity.

Applejack turns around quickly and sees Applebloom who had just peered her head around the door. An intense blush forms across her face, making you wonder what she _was_going to do to you. Best not to find out you suppose...

"Oh um...hey Applebloom, I was just er...helping him dry off is all." Applejack said, adjusting the hat on her head.

"With your rope?" Applebloom said

"With your rope?" You added just to mess with her.

"You shut yer trap." Applejack snapped, causing you to shut up. "Yeah, with my rope. It squeezes all the water out of his clothes, y'see?" Applejack really was a terrible liar. Luckily for her, Applebloom bought it.

"Alright, just don't be late fer the rest of the chores." She turned around and headed off.

Applejack turned to you and spoke quietly. "Boy, yer luckier than a leprechaun that just found a seven-leaved clover tied to a lucky rabbit's foot." I don't think you would've liked what I had in store..." She narrowed her eyes at you.

"Erm...saved by the bell I guess!" You respond, regaining your composure. "Now untie me, you don't want us to be _late_do you?" You stare into her eyes grinning widely.

"Fine..." She sighs and undoes the lasso and you immediately stretch your arms. Man, you were about ready to shit yourself. She got you all hyped up and were saved by dear little Applebloom. You watch Applejack walk out, and you don't stare at her at all out of fear. Instead, you stay back a bit and catch your breath.

Unbeknownst to you, Applejack really _didn't_know what she was going to do. She entertained a few ideas in her head...Spraying your face some more, putting hay in your shirt...Things like that. She was frustrated when she considered just letting him go...she had always had a problem with his type since...well an incident in school...but that's another story for another time. For now, she just rolled her eyes at herself and went inside to meet Big Mac.

You finally got the energy and willpower to get up and walk out of the barn.

_Man, you have GOT to stop fantasizing about her! She is not your type!_You lie to yourself.

_Yes she is..._Your other side retorts.

_Fine, I admit it! She's smoking hot. But still, you aren't her type!_Your former side fights back.

_So? Lots of couples didn't like each other at first._Said the other half of your brain.

_Oh so you're thinking about DATING HER! Psh, like that's going to happen._You mentally roll your eyes at yourself.

_And what if I am? It's not like there are any other girls around...plus she has charm, a cute face, natural beauty, great hair, captivating eyes, curvy hips, a great sense in fashion, and not to mention...dat ass._The other half of your brain seems to smirk as it knows that it has won.

_Well...Yeah. She's pretty much perfect in every way. Save her sour attitude maybe..._ Your brain says.

_That's true, but what if...what if you got off your lazy ass and made yourself better! You know, be more helpful, try to have a better attitude, all that shit. I bet she'd warm up to you._Your other half reasons.

_You know what? I might do that. However, just know that I'm only doing it for her!_You sigh mentally.

_It's okay bro, same with me._

_You ARE me._

_Whatever..._

After that awkward little brain conversation, you decide to do whatever you can to make a better impression on the Apple family until your shift was over for the day. You walked into the house and Big Mac greeted you with what you interpreted as the 'sup nod.' You waved back and asked if there was anything you could do to help.

The reactions for the Apple family were as follows.

Big Mac raised his eyebrows, the most change in emotion you've seen him do since you arrived.

Applebloom got a hopeful look in her eyes.

Granny Smith got a cheery look on her face, happy to see you willing to take on responsibility

Applejack's jaw dropped. Like literally, it dropped. If it were a cartoon, it would've hit the floor. You now think that you would've said what you did just to see that reaction. You looked at her and gave her a wry smile. She shook her head quickly and looked away.

Big Mac returned to his original expression and spoke, "Well, I suppose you could help me carry bushels to the tractor but..."

"I'll do it." You respond quickly.

He nods and leads you out to the place. It's another shed with apples on bushels on it. There's a tractor with a large transportation cart beside it, signifying that those apples are probably hauled off to the market.

"Now all you have t' do here is take the bushels and put them on the cart." He says.

"Alrighty." You say with faked enthusiasm at the mundane task. You pick up a bushel, it's a little heavy, but you're able to take it and set it on the cart. The branches and sticks poke and prod at your skin, but it beats hanging with Applejack. A few bushels later, Big Mac asks you a question.

"So, what's it like workin' here so far."

"...Hard I guess..." You respond weakly.

"I understand that. Ya aren't used t' this kind of work like we are, so I understand that ya need a breather every once in a while."

"...Thanks... I appreciated what you did for me earlier today."

"Think nothin' of it..." He responded. "By the way, I suppose yer wonderin' why AJ's actin' a might hostile around ya." He sets another bushel on the cart and looks your direction.

"Yeah, I have. What gives?" You say in a rather annoyed tone.

He sets another bushel on the cart before answering. "Normally, AJ's one of the sweetest and most dependable young women you'll ever meet."

_Bullshit_You thought.

"However." He continues. "She has always had a problem with people from the city since she was bullied in high school...being called a 'hick' and whatnot. She really went through some hard times, 'specially since she's a teenage girl."

"Yeah, you know how those hormones are." You add humorously.

You and Big Mac both share a quick laugh.

"But yeah, I can see why she'd be more cautious around new people...but she really is over the top threatening with me. Is there another factor? Do I look like an ex of hers or something?" You ask.

Big Mac only shakes his head. "AJ's never had a significant other, not sure why. She's purty enough, ain't she?"

You pretend to think for a minute to not sound to smitten with her looks. "Umm...yeah, she's okay I guess..." You lie.

Big Mac lets out a chuckle. "Heheh, judging by how you were starin' at her earlier? I reckon you're lying."

_Shit..._

"Okay, you caught me, she's gorgeous. Don't tell her, okay?" You plead.

He does the 'my lips are sealed' thing indicating that your secret is safe with him.

"Well now, it looks like we're nearly done, and it's close to four. I reckon you did a fine job." He praises.

"Oh um...guess we did. Thanks for your help, Big Mac." You sincerely thank him.

"No problem, jus' head on back to the house for some well earned rest and grub." You nod and start to walk away.

"Oh and, kid!" He adds. You turn to face him.

"If ya want to impress her, show her you're different from the other city boys. She'll warm up t' ya." He gives you a warm smile.

You nod in response and head back to the Apple family house. As you enter, you see Granny Smith and Applejack both cooking dinner. Judging by the smell of things, they know what they're doing.

Big Mac enters next and slumps on the couch. Your clothes thoroughly dried by working in the sun, then slightly dampened by sweat, you sit in a wooden chair. You don't want to stink up their couch...

"Hey Big Mac!" You hear Applejack call from the kitchen. " Ya hungry?

"Eeyup." He responds in his low voice.

"Good, cuz supper's just 'bout ready. That boy didn't give ya any trouble did 'e?" She comes out and casts a glare in your direction.

"Nope."

"Well...uh...good, good." Applejack seems to display a mixture of surprise, relief, and disappointment at the same time. It was nice to do something right, if not for a job well done then just to see the look on her face.

"Soup's on!" Granny Smith called as she brought out...soup? It was cream based and smelled really good. You could smell sea salt, white pepper, turmeric, cooking whine, and sherry vinegar. It made your mouth water slightly. The rest of the Apple family sat down as AJ served up the family.

Big Mac got two ladles of soup in his, Granny smith got two, Applebloom got two, she came to you and gave you one. You just looked at her with a face that said 'are you fucking kidding me?' She responded with an innocent grin and another ladle of soup. She then served herself two ladles of soup and sat next to you. She faced more towards the left though, which was away from you.

_Fine._ You thought. _...Be that way._

The dinner went on with no real conversations. The soup was delicious, and it filled you up. You were happy to have that little pep talk with Big Macintosh and you were very ready to hit the hay. (Figuratively speaking of course.)

After dinner, Granny Smith pointed out that it was time for you to go, much to your delight. You thanked the Apple family for the wonderful Dinner and even gave Granny Smith a hug which she accepted graciously. You said your goodbyes save Applejack who just sulked at the table. You walked out the door and started the long walk back to your house.

After you shut the door, Big Mac turned to Applejack and stared into her eyes.

"...What?" She said.

He kept staring.

"Did I miss something?" She averted her eyes from his gaze, not wanting to do what she knew he was implying for her to do.

He just kept staring.

"Aw come on...after all he's done to-"

His stare intensified.

"...Fine, I'll go apologize." She grumbled and walked out the door after you. Big Mac just smiled.

"Works every time." He said to himself.

You were walking along the winding path leading to the exit of their farm when you heard footsteps behind you. They were too agile to be Granny Smith, too loud to be Applebloom, and too quiet to be Big Macintosh. That only meant...

_Oh shit..._You mused to yourself. You turned around and instinctively flinched when you saw Applejack right next to you.

"Oh calm down, city boy, I ain't gonna bite." She narrowed her eyes a bit.

"I'm not letting my guard down! No way no ho-" You're cut off when Applejack wraps you in a warm embrace that you can't help but enjoy. Darnit, why do you have to like her so much?

"Look, I just wanted ta..." She swallowed. "Just wanted ta apologize fer today. I shouldn't have been as harsh as I was, and I hope ya have the heart to forgive me." She breaks the hug much to your dismay.

Then she pokes your chest firmly. "But don't you think this changes anything between us! Yer still just a city boy, and unless ya can prove that yer fit fer helping, I'm not gonna go easy on ya." She then grabs her arm nervously. "And uh...don't you tell nobody about that hug, y'hear?"

"Oh, so I _should_ tell _somebody_, is that right?" You smirked, playing on her double negative.

"You know what I mean, sugarcube." She wasn't amused by your antics.

"You're no fun, I'll see you tomorrow." You roll your eyes.

"I'll be waiting, city boy!" She calls back, her tone almost threatening. Almost.

With nothing else to say to her, you walk back to your house.

You barge open the door and walk in like you _own_the place. (Not that you want to) And immediately head upstairs. Your dad sees you and smiles. "How was day one of wo-"

"Can't talk, sleepy." You cut him off.

Your mom calls you from downstairs. "Sweetie? Don't you want di-"

"Already had it, too sleepy to eat anymore." You keep walking to your room.

Your parents say nothing, working on the farm for that long has GOT to tire a fellow out and so they let you go without any more objections.

You walk into your new room and immediately jump on the bed. It's the same bed you had before, so it creaks and conforms to the body it knows so well. You relax in your bed under the full blast of your fan and think about today.

_Applejack apologized. She might like me!_

_Don't get your hopes up, man._

_What if she does?_

_IF she did, that would be awesome. But I think she's just sorry. Simple as that._

_Eh, probably true. But come to think of it, despite how sour she is to you...I think she's making this move seem better._

_Maybe she is, maybe she is. I still wish I was back home._

_You and me both..._

_YOU ARE ME!_

_If you keep arguing with yourself like this, you're going to go crazy~_

_Who says I'm not already? Today pretty much ripped my sanity out of my head._

_...Good point...Night crazy self._

_Night crazy self..._

With your little mind argument over, you fall asleep quickly, dreading and anticipating the next day at the same time as Applejack both haunts and graces your dreams...


	5. The Tension has been Doubled

**The Apple Family Household**

_5:15 AM_

Applejack woke up the same time she did every morning; 5:15 on the dot. She had her _very_ early morning chores to do and knew she had to get right to it, just like every other day. She got out of bed, took a quick shower, ran a comb quickly through her long hair, then tied the end of it off. She put on an orange plaid top with skinny denim shorts and her favorite brown stetson hat and went downstairs, grabbing her work boots at the base of the steps and putting them on.

She met Big Mac in the kitchen, he was already preparing himself a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast and Applebloom was having a bowl of cereal. Applejack decided to have some yogurt with an apple that morning. There was little talk, since everyone was still considerably tired. After Big Mac briefed AJ over the chores she'd be doing, she fitted her lasso through her belt loop for easy access and headed out to the cow pen.

Once reaching there, Applejack let out a sigh of annoyance. Big Mac said she was working with 'city boy' again. Man, why did he have to do that? He knew she didn't like him, and it certainly didn't help that he was useless either. Today, they'd be in the apple orchard picking apples. It was something they did every so often and today was one of those days. She began thinking of ways that you might screw it up. Perhaps you'd knock over your own ladder, or maybe she'd knock it down for you. Actually, that would be kind of mean, so she threw that idea out. Perhaps you'd end up dropping more apples than you'd harvest. Maybe you'd accidentally harvest a bunch of bad apples and compromise the quality of their products. The possibilities were endless! Once you arrived, she would have to teach you the ropes of apple harvesting, whether she wanted to or not...

She was thinking all of this even as she started milking the cows. She couldn't get too lost in thought, or else she would get distracted from the task at hand. Man, this city boy was causing more conflict in her than she thought possible. Her head was buzzing with thoughts...

_That city boy is probably going to screw something else up today...I don't wanna get caught like I did yesterday with the lasso incident. If I'm gonna show him I'm not to be messed with, I need to be subtle. Then again, why do I feel I need to prove I'm better than him? I mean, it's not like he's done much more than completely suck at doing farm work..._

_No! Don't think like that. Ya can't cut him __**any**__ slack! You know him and his type, they let ya know how much better they are than you every chance they get! They also like to git in yer head and point out all of yer mistakes. What do them city boys know about farming? Someone's gotta do it, it's not my fault I ain't as smart as they are!_

_...But it would be nice...I kinda envy 'em..._

_Still, this here city boy hasn't really said anything mean t' ya, why not give 'im a chance? What if...he's different?_

_Fat chance of that. He ain't done nothin' to show he's the same, but he ain't shown that he's different neither._

_What about helpin' Big Mac yesterday and not messin' anything up?_

_He probably didn't do much work and didn't mess up what work he did._

_But still...I think I can at least give him a chance...maybe he ain't so bad..._

Applejack had finished milking all 8 of their cows just as she finished her train of thought coincidentally. She then moved on to her next chore, gathering eggs from the chicken pens, and finished it in about 20 minutes. Since it took her an hour and 10 minutes to milk all of the cows, about 20 minutes of that was spent lost in thought, she noticed it was about time for city boy over there to wake up. She saw the rooster sitting on top of the chicken coup and got a devious idea...

"I'm gonna give him a chance, but that sure as sugar doesn't mean I ain't gonna have some fun doing so..." She said to herself.

Your parents were wide awake and were about to wake you up when they heard a knock on the door. It was a quiet knock, almost as if the knock was deliberately trying to only be heard by those nearby. Your parents opened the door and saw AJ with the rooster perched on her arm. No dialouge was exchanged, they looked at Applejack's face and knew her plans. They nodded in unison much to Applejack's delight and led them up to your room.

Meanwhile, you were sound asleep in your room, in your dream, you were working on the farm again, picking up bushels of apples like you did yesterday and putting them in the cart with Big Mac alongside you. Suddenly, Applejack decided to join for some reason. You didn't object, and just decided to go with it. Applejack went over to you and got up close and personal to you to show you how to properly lift them up without hurting your back. You could feel her...breasts...brushing up against your arm as she guided your arms deep under the bushels and helped you lift them up. You also could swear you felt the pointy branches poking your arms as well. The...strangely soft leaves brushed across your skin and it actually felt pleasant. Then, unexpectedly, Applejack has you drop the bushel and pulls you in for a full-on make out session. Big Mac is surprisingly gone at this point as your mind has her rub her body all over you. She pecks you on the cheek lightly...then...OW! OW! Not the ear! What's going on!

You wake up to find a rooster perched on your limp arm and lightly poking your ear with it's beak. Seeing you awake, it then gives you the official wake up call.

_**COCK A DOODLE DOO!**_

"JESUS JETFUEL CHRIST WHAT THE HELL!" You immediately spring out of bed and notice the rooster has re-perched itself at the head of your bead and it cocked it's head to one side as if saying, "What? I'm just doing my job."

You hear very familiar laughing coming from the other side of the door...

"GODDAMMIT, APPLEJACK!" You shout, the anger in your voice not hidden at all.

"AHAHAHA! Hoo...That was the funniest thing I've heard in ages. You awake city boy?"

You facepalm. "Nope, I'm just sleep talking. YES I'M AWAKE!"

"Well then, best git a move on, you an' me are pickin' apples today." Then you hear her tone change from amusement to completely serious... "And you best not screw anything up, y'hear?"

You brushed a bit of sweat off your forehead before responding with, "Y-yes ma'am." Gosh, she sounded pretty threatening behind that door. You heard her knock real quick.

"Hey, are you decent?"

"I guess, I have no shirt on, but I have pants, why?"

She barges into the room and heads to the rooster. You're surprised, she's fully dressed and stunning as ever. She glances at your half-dressed figure on the floor and chuckles.

"Boy, you sure need this work, you look like yer in terrible shape."

She was right, her plaid top exposed some of her belly, but you could tell she was toned and fit as a fiddle. You didn't have any muscle definition whatsoever. (Whether it's being scrawny as a toothpick, or having a few extra pounds, reader's interpretation) You were far from Applejack's level of physical fitness, but you were ready to show your worth...for her. However, you don't like it when people insult your physique like that, even if it is her.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ weak!" You decide to add in some humor to break her guard. "I'll have you know that I can beat the Final Boss of Super Smash Brothers within 5 minutes!"

She rolls her eyes and puts the rooster on her arm. "An' I can beat him in 3. Don't you try ta best me, sugarcube. It ain't happenin'." She adjusted the stetson on her head

Your eyes widen. "You play videogames!" Wow...this changed a lot.

"Uhh...Yeah! I do. And ain't nobody better than me, y'hear?" She adjusted her stetson hat again.

"Well then, Miss Applejack, I reckon we're going to have to test that! This saturday, my place, Super Smash Brothers. You're going down." You were very confident in your skills as a gamer, and you were NOT about to have her say otherwise. You're a guy! You've been gaming all your life! If she, a country girl, says she can beat you...she has another thing coming.

Applejack suddenly turned beet red. She was spouting lies the entire time. Now she was in trouble...she only knew a little about video games from what her brother played in high school. Oh boy...why didn't she just keep her trap shut...

Because she had her pride, is why...

"Uhm...yer on, city boy!" She wore a nervous expression and didn't bother to face him in case he noticed. She quickly walked out of the room with the rooster and shut the door.

"Meet me in the barn, same place as last time." She called out before you heard her footsteps going down the stairs.

You noticed there to be uncertainty in her voice, but you didn't think much of it. Hopefully, she was nervous because she feared that she might be a tad rusty and not be able to beat you. There were more pressing matters at hand, such as getting to work. You showered, got ready, and dressed in long gray pants with a white shirt that had the 'Assassins Creed' insignia on it.

You came downstairs and dad offered you his old work boots. Strangely, they fit you. They were dark brown and worn with use and weathering alike. They would do just dandy, so you thanked your dad. Mom gave you breakfast (a granola bar with yogurt) and you ate quickly. Then, it was off to work. The morning had gone by surprisingly well (besides the wake-up call) and you were surprised by your own attitude. You weren't nearly as sulky as you were yesterday...could it be...perhaps...that it was Applejack? Were you looking _forward_ to your shift? No, that couldn't be right. Still...you mulled it over your brain a few times and it kept pointing to Applejack. The hug she gave you yesterday still sent butterflies through your stomach...and you wondered if butterflies flew through hers...

_...Nah, highly unlikely._ You thought.

As you approached the gate to the orchard, you could've sworn you saw Applejack immediately dart from behind a tree to a barn. Was she watching you? Man, that sounded pretty creepy now that you thought about it...You went over to the front door and saw Granny Smith, who simply greeted you with a friendly wave and pointed to the barn you went to last time. You nodded and headed to where she pointed. Along the way, you passed Big Macintosh carrying a huge basket of apples to their cellar and you waved. He nodded back then kept carrying the basket to the cellar.

You saw Applebloom hauling a bag of feed to the chicken coup and she gave you a happy grin. You politely waved back then headed through the barn door and saw Applejack in the barn just like she said she'd be...but she looked as though she had arrived not too long ago then tried to hide it by assuming a lazy position. She had her boots kicked up and her hat over her head, and she was laying down. She didn't have straw in her mouth this time. What gave her haste away was the fact that her chest was heaving as if she had recently ran. You knew at this point that she was waiting for you and tried to hide the evidence...

"Took ya long enough..." She lied, adjusting her hat so that it exposed her gorgeous emerald eyes.

You figured to just play along. "What can I say? I'm just a slowpoke of a city boy. Just tell me what to do so we can get this over with."

She hopped off the extra large bale of hay she had been resting on and approached you. "Big Mac has assigned that you an' me are gonna be pickin' apples from the east acre today. He has the ladders and buckets already put out. I don't want _no_ trouble from you today now, y'hear?"

"It's you and _I_, Applejack. Also, your double negatives...they confuzzles me...Do you mean to tell me that you _do_ want _some_ trouble from me?" You gave a smug grin, feeling extra ballsy with that comment.

She brought her face mere centimeters from yours, scowled, and stared deep into your eyes with her emerald ones. She was so close to you that you could smell her. She smelled like newly-cut grass and fresh apple juice. It was relaxing, but her face wasn't. She backed you into a wall and placed a hand firmly on your shoulder. You started to get a little scared.

_If this were a dream, this would have a __**whole**__ different meaning..._ You mused to yourself.

"Wanna run that by me again, city boy?" Her eyes were narrowed, burning themsleves inside your head.

_Goddammit, why does she have to be so intimidating sometimes..._

You shake your head furiously. She cracked a smile and tousled your hair.

"Good. Now follow me, city boy." She took off at a light jog, so you could keep up with her.

As you followed her, you saw not just how nice her ass was, but how toned it was when it moved. She had very well shaped hips that complimented it, and her denim shorts just accentuated it all so nicely.

Then a thought occurred to you...

_What if I don't really like her like that? What if I just feel lust for her?_

_I...I guess that's a possibility but..._

_It would make sense why I couldn't stop staring at her the other day, and let's face it, she's totally gorgeous, but her attitude is so abrasive that she causes you to grind your teeth at night._

_...That she does. But maybe I can still like her for real! Perhaps after she warms up to me a little bit..._

_...Well okay, I'll get to know her better and see if her attitude changes or not...But just so we're clear, I recognize that I at least feel lust for her to some degree._

_I am not going to argue with that..._

_I'd hope not, we're the same person, just different sides of your brain._

_One knows he is insane when he recognizes his own insanity. You're now officially insane, congrats. *Clap clap clap*_

_I've been insane since last night, idiot._

_Oh yeah...Hey, why don't you do yourself a favor and snap back to reality?_

_Great idea!_

You snap yourself back to reality and find that Applejack has stopped in front of an apple tree that has a ladder on it and a few buckets already positioned beneath it. You assume you know what to do and approach the ladder. Before you can, however, Applejack holds out an arm and stops you.

"Now before ya begin, I gots ta show you what yer gonna be doing." She then climbs the ladder and wraps her fingers around an apple. It was deep red and shiny so you assumed them to be Red Delicious apples.

"Now...when pickin' apples, ya gotta twist then pull." She twisted the apple and pulled sharply, plucking the apple clean off the tree. You step forward and face upwards, enjoying the view of her rear. God, you're such a pervert. You avert your eyes and watch her twist and pull another apple clean off.

"When ya can't carry any more, reach down and drop 'em in the buckets. Don't worry, it's not a long drop and the bottom of the bucket is cushioned." She gently drops the apples in the bucket and she reaches further back to pick a few more off.

...Perhaps a little too far back...

You hear her gasp suddenly and lose her balance, falling back and twisting around before landing on top of you. You break her fall, but since it was unexpected, you fall to the floor and Applejack lands directly on top of you, her nose pressing against yours and her outstretched arms preventing her from completely bashing yourselves together.

You groan, and upon seeing Applejack's shocked face directly in front of yours, you both develop deep blushes across your cheeks. Perhaps if she didn't have her arms in front of her...your lips might've touched...You two were _that_ perfectly aligned.

"...What just happened?" You don't make an effort to get Applejack off of you since you kind of like this.

Her eyes widen before she slowly climbs off of you. "I dunno, I got careless and fell I guess..." The blush is still present on her face and she bites her lower lip. You find it super adorable when she does that...

You puff out your chest and smile proudly. "Well then, guess I saved you."

She blows a lock of hair from her eyes. "Um...guess you did. Thanks, city boy." She actually sounded sincere that time and her face showed that she was probably in deep thought.

_**Applejack's mind, 8:45 AM...**_

_Why in the HAY did that thought cross my mind!_

Applejack's mind was ablaze with thoughts because when she landed on top of him, she considered kissing him as thanks. She didn't know why it crossed her mind and so her brain thought of possible reasons.

_Let's see...if he weren't right there then you would've probably broke something. That would stink big time, wouldn't it?_

_Yeah, but why would that prompt me to kiss him as thanks? I don't even like 'im!_

_Well...um...I guess the atmosphere was right...the tree was shaded, we were on top of one another, he actually isn't half bad lookin', the moment just seemed...right._

_...That's ridiculous._

_Yeah, what was I thinking. There's no way that city boy's gettin' a piece of me, no way no how. I reckon he doesn't even like me that way. _

_...Just like every other guy..._

She came back to reality and saw you holding a hand out to her earnestly, offering to help her up. She decided not to refuse and you pulled her up. She grabbed her arm nervously and ordered you to start picking. You didn't say anything, just went to your ladder and did the same 'twist and pull' trick Applejack showed you, taking care not to fall...

A few hours of you and Applejack picking apples passed, not a word was spoken out of either of you. You didn't think this was from the ladder incident, although that _did_ make things pretty awkward...You figured it was because you knew Applejack didn't take a liking to you. That made much more sense in your head, so you just went with that.

Meanwhile, Applejack was still thinking about the ladder incident unbeknownst to you. It was the only thing that kept her from talking to you. She thought about how she thought about kissing you, about how she just realized how much she didn't like being single all her life, she didn't get out too much, and so the only guys she interacted with were at school. But now, school was out and she only had him. Not to mention, all the guys she knew at her school either picked on her for her lack of academic merit, or acted like they had no interest in her what so ever. She began thinking that you perhaps had a girlfriend you left behind, which she thought explained why you were so...bitter...about being here. The more she thought, the more she convinced herself that you two would never be, and she was just fine and dandy with that. Heck, she didn't even know why she had the thought in the first place.

When 3 PM swung around, Applejack let you know that it was time to head on in for some food. You agreed and followed her to the house. When you both stepped inside, Big Mac greeted you both and asked how the apple picking went.

"It was...interesting..." You said, casting a glance to Applejack so she knew you were having trouble explaining. She decided to help you out out of courtesy.

"Eeyup, we ended up clearing 36 trees or so I reckon." Applejack adds on.

"How is that interesting?" Applebloom asked.

_...Dammit..._

"Well you see Applebloom, when doing a mundane task like simply picking apples, you learn to make things interesting using your imagination." You said using your quick thinking skills.

"Oh...okay." Applebloom bought it. Geez she was gullible sometimes...

"Well now, I reckon you kids's hungry?" Granny Smith asks with a cheerful smile.

"You betcha!" Applejack beams, stretching her arms and back.

"Yeah!" said Applebloom.

"Eeyup." Big Mac stated, his arms folded across his chest.

"Yep." You folded your arms across your chest, imitating Big Mac.

Applejack seemed to snicker at your attempted emulation of her brother.

Granny Smith brought out lots of little finger sandwiches on a tray and set it out. You grabbed a few and set them on a paper plate, then joined the rest of the Apple family.

Whilst eating, a brown and white border collie bounded up to Applejack and wagged it's tail.

"Well howdy, Winona!" She said, scratching the dog behind it's ears and giving it a sandwich. The dog snapped up the sandwich in one bite, ran away quickly, and returned with what looked like a ball in it's mouth. It trotted over to you and dropped the ball at your feet, then assumed an 'I'm ready!' stance.

"She want's you to throw it!" Applebloom told you.

_Eh, what the heck._

You picked up the ball, Winona eying it intently and gave it a toss. She snatched it from the air almost immediately and brought it to you again and whimpered.

"Already?" You rolled your eyes from amusement and threw the ball a little higher this time. Winona almost caught it in mid air, but instead had to dash after it with blinding speed. Winona brought the ball back to you within 10 seconds.

"Geez you're fast." You admired this dog's agility.

"Ain't she?" Applejack said with a light smile in-between bites of her sandwich. Her tone wasn't kind, but it wasn't hostile either. It was like she was saying it to someone she was trying to be nice to, and failing.

You recognized it as rhetorical question and didn't respond. Instead, you just threw the ball again and Winona dashed after it. She brought it back and dropped it again.

"I'm trying to eat here, dog." You sigh from mild annoyance and throw it really far. Once Winona dashes after it, you start eating your sandwich as fast as possible. You finish one before Winona bounds back and drops the ball by your feet again. But this time, Applejack picks it up.

"You eat yer sandwich, I'll handle her." She says in the same tone as before, but a little nicer.

"Thanks." You go back to your other sandwich and start eating. AJ was done eating, and was playing fetch with Winona. You thought the dog was cute, if not a little demanding...

"That's Winona, she's our dog." Applebloom beamed.

_You don't say?_

"We found her at the pound a few years ago and decided to adopt her! She's been such a good herding dog, watch dog, and companion to us." Applebloom continues. "We just love 'er to death, don't we?"

The rest of the Apple family nods in agreement.

"She seems nice..." You say, not wanting to talk much since Applejack's silence was actually starting to unnerve you. Ever since the ladder incident she hasn't talked to you at all except when necessary...You begin to wonder if that's the reason as opposed to not liking you that much...

And yet, she's actually acting less hostile than she did yesterday. It made no sense, since all you did was help a little bit with carrying bushels yesterday. She couldn't have warmed up to you that fast. You brushed the thought off and finished eating your sandwich. It was getting closer to the end of your shift, and you didn't know what the Apple family had in store for you. You simply waited for all of them to finish...

It was four in the afternoon now, everyone had finished eating and Winona was curled up in a corner of the house. Big Mac told you and AJ that you would both be heading off into the forest to collect firewood.

"Why do ya always pair us two together?" Applejack complained.

"I do it 'cuz y'all are such a good team." He chuckles.

You know better than to argue with Big Mac. Besides, it's dangerous in the forest, You pictured there to be snakes and wolves and bobcats and all kinds of nature that could eat you. Having Applejack by your side seemed to ease your nerves, being as strong as she is. Applejack however, continued to protest.

"He'll only slow me down."

"It's dangerous to go in the woods alone."

"I can handle m'self!"

"What if you can't? Someone needs to get help."

"That's a good point but..._him!_"

"What about 'im?"

"He won't last 3 minutes in those there woods."

You decide to intervene. "Hey! I can do just fine in the woods, thank you very much!...But I won't go if Applejack's' really that against it..." You take a step back.

Big Mac lets out a sigh. "I really insist you go, I don't want anything happenin' to my little sister out there."

"...Fine...I'll go."

"...Fine, he can go."

"Not like you had a choice anyway, AJ." Big Mac said matter-of-factly.

You two walk to the edge of the woods bordering their property and before you walk in, Applejack stops you with her outstretched arm again.

"Now listen here, city boy. I've been in these here woods many-a-times and made it out jus' fine. All we need to do is gather enough firewood and git out. Understand?"

"Why not just use some of the wood from your hundreds of apple trees?" You say logically.

Applejack seemed shocked you would suggest such a thing. "Why...why would we do that? Those trees are our pride n' joy! We love every single one of 'em!" She seems to almost speak of their trees like they were their babies.

"Alright alright, forget I asked." You face palm. _What a weirdo._

"You best, city boy." She says, then appears to be in deep thought. She finally asks, "So, why exactly are ya so mad about moving 'ere? I think this part of the land ain't nothing to be upset about."

You sighed, _this_ question you could answer easily. "I had a happy life where I was, it was a small apartment with a good internet connection and a low living cost. I have a computer that used to have a great connection where I was, now it's downright terrible. Everyone I've ever known, every memory I've had, everything in my life that I hold dear, it was all there at that apartment. Now I have no friends save talking to them on facebook, and since school isn't for another few months, I probably won't be making any in the near future. And what's worse, my dad acts as if he has just done me a huge favor. He just...doesn't understand me. He's too ambitious and absorbed with his work to pay attention to me anymore. And now that I think about it, I miss spending time with him...even though I don't want to now." You turn your head and notice Applejack has moved closer to you, cautiously side-stepping between fallen branches and fungus-covered trunks.

"Well shoot, I reckon that ain't so good, I've lived here all my life, and if my family were to suddenly move to a small apartment in the city, why, I might just be as nervous of a wreck as you are..." She paused. "So...leave behind any..._special_ friends?"

You were a bit surprised at her question. "Uhmmm...No, not really. To tell you the truth, I have pretty bad luck with the ladies. Some girls have liked me before, but they usually end up being crazy or an emotional train wreck. I really don't want that though, I've always wanted a girl that's as emotionally stable as she is beautiful. I have always had a thing for nerdy girls, and it's also great if she has an intelligent sense of humor. I mean, she doesn't _have_ to be super smart, it's just a preference of mine. Oh! And I like girls that are mostly level-headed and love to cuddle. As far as appearance goes...and don't take this the wrong way, I'm a huge sucker for green eyes. And having great hair helps too." You see her start to think, and you continue talking. "I prefer natural beauty over makeup, and she needs to be confident in her abilities. That being said, I think it's cute when a girl is a bit competitive."

Applejack hears your description and starts comparing herself to your description of the perfect girl.

_Let's see...I got green eyes, I wonder if he thinks my hair is great...I'm no brainiac, but I try in school. That counts, right? Umm...I'd say I can be pretty level-headed, I dunno about my sense of humor...I don't know if I like cuddling or not since I've never done it. I'm pretty competitive, and proud of my abilities. I guess now the main question is...does he think I'm beautiful...?_

_Wait a minute...why do I care if I'm good enough for him or not!_

She took a deep breath and heaved a sigh before answering, "Well, I guess I better tell you my taste in men."

"Go ahead." You respond.

She takes another deep breath. "I guess what I'm really looking for is a sweet guy I can share my emotions with. I'd like him to be a happy guy that is emotionally strong, and not overprotective. I can handle m'self. I need to be able to trust 'im and he needs to know to trust me. I like it when guys are smart an' all, but they need to know not to be a braggart. As far as looks go...well..." She starts to blush a little. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them muscly armed men ya see on TV, but as long as he was good to me and knew how to treat me right, I'd gladly date 'im."

You tried to see if she saw any potential in you. "And you've never met a guy like that? I think we're actually pretty common."

Her blush intensified. "A-and are ya tryin' to imply that yer one of 'em?" I can't see you being emotionally strong, plus you can't seem to get jack-squat done."

_Oohh...right in the heart..._

"Plus..." She continued, "You have got 'braggart' written all over you. I bet you're the kind of guy that makes fun of everyone."

"Hey, I haven't mistreated you like that, have I?" You said, defending yourself.

"Well uh..." She stammered, "Not yet at least!"

"I think you're being paranoid. I am NOT out to get you. If you keep this sour attitude though..."

"Just nevermind. I still don't fully trust you yet. That ladder thing...was an accident."

"Whatever..."

Suddenly, you heard a twig snap in the distance. You both jumped and turned to the direction of the sound simultaneously. You saw a fox. It was small and red, and it was just out for an evening stroll.

"...Aw, little guy is cute, ain't he?" Applejack whispered, losing all the hostility in her tone.

"Aren't those the ones that carry rabies? You know, the ones that don't show signs...?" You whisper nervously.

"Nah, yer thinkin' of skunks." She whispers back.

"...Oh...Well there's one of those over there." You point to a skunk you just noticed a few meters to the right.

"Well as long as we don't bother it, it won't bother us..."

Suddenly, the skunk bolts away, and fortunately, it doesn't spray it's noxious gas. You wonder why, then you hear the fox let out a weak 'YELP!' Before you hear a cracking noise. You turn to where the fox was and see that a rather large bobcat has snapped it's neck. It was about as big as Winona, but it had sharp claws and you knew that bobcats were pretty strong, so they were pretty dangerous. It was getting ready to eat it's fresh kill until it sees you and Applejack. It's yellow eyes seem to glow in the dark as it drops the dead fox and stalks toward you, ears back and teeth bared. You didn't need to be a wildlife expert to know it was angry. You probably stumbled into it's territory by mistake...

"What do we do, Applejack?" You whisper, your nerves increasing exponentially.

"I dunno, we're just gonna have to fight it."

"Are you crazy! Let's just run away!"

"I ain't crazy, and we can't outrun it! Are you crazy!"

You think for a bit. "...Yes, yes I am."

"Well that's just great." Applejack narrows her eyes and prepares herself to fight.

With no other options, you take your best fighting stance and hope the bobcat goes for her first...

_**To be continued...RIGHT NOW! :D**_

The bobcat lunged forward, aiming for you. Before it could land a hit, Applejack brought her boot down over the Bobcat's head and caused it to hit the floor with quite the bit of force. You and her jumped back at the same time as it got back up and growled in anger. It lunged again, this time, for Applejack. She side stepped and grabbed it's scruff before throwing it against a tree. She seemed to know what she was doing.

"Dayum!" You couldn't help but admire her strength.

Was that a blush you saw across her face? It was hard to tell. You could at least tell that she smirked at your compliment and stomped her foot on the ground, seemingly challenging the bobcat again. The bobcat got up, and rather than go after the feisty one, lunged at you again.

Applejack didn't reach it fast enough and you ended up with an irate bobcat clawing your face. It gave you a nasty swipe across the cheek just by your eye and was attempting to bite off your nose when it abruptly let go of everything. You opened your eyes, Applejack had the bobcat in some sort of weird hold that prevented it from moving it's arms. It kicked and squirmed, but Applejack merely threw it on the ground and stomped on it's back.

The bobcat let out a hiss of defeat and ran away.

"Finally..." You say, then suddenly the scratch the bobcat gave you begins to take it's toll.

"AGH!" You suddenly grab your face and reel it away when you feel something wet. It was blood. Your blood.

Applejack's face suddenly became very worried. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?" She showed genuine concern for you.

"I-I'm fine, I just need a bandage is all..." You wince as Applejack runs a finger across one of the cuts.

"No, ya ain't fine. That scratch is mighty deep, ya need medical attention right away!" She grabs your arm and drags you out of the forest, back to the edge of the property, and finally into the Apple family household.

"Goodness, what happened to him?" Granny Smith asks, seeing your bloody face. The blood had run down your face and made you look way worse than you actually were.

"Bobcat attacked him in the woods." Applejack said plainly. "Git this wound cleaned up, and hurry!"

Granny Smith nodded and took you over to the bathroom to wash your wounds.

Big Mac walked in suddenly. "What's this about a bobcat? Didn't I tell ya it was dangerous in the woods?"

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Big Mac. "I had to fight off the bobcat by m'self. City boy got a nasty scratch from 'im and I brought him back faster than a rabbit caught on fire."

"Now do you understand why I sent two in the forest?" He spoke calmly as usual. "If you weren't there...what would've happened?"

Applejack had to think for a minute...she could make the argument that he could've just sent _her_ in to get the firewood, but she understood that he wanted to send him in there originally.

"I guess..." She lowered her head.

"And another thing, if you don't like him that much, why were you so worried about 'im?"

This time, Applejack blushed. "Uhm, well he's no help if he's dead, right?"

Big Mac stared at her, knowing there was more to it than that.

"Oh come on, this again? I didn't want 'im to die. That's all there is to it."

Big Mac kept staring.

"I'm not giving in like I did last time."

He still kept staring.

"Would you quit it? It's not gonna work!"

He didn't let up his stare.

"Nope, not working."

The stare continued.

"There ain't anything else to it!"

The stare didn't relent.

"Oh...horsefeathers...I didn't want him to die because I don't really hate 'im alright? In fact...he ain't that bad! There I said it. Ya happy now?"

"Eeyup." Big Mac grinned.

"Don't tell him I said so, y'hear?" Her voice was a whisper.

"I ain't promisin' anything, AJ."

"Aw, come on!" Applejack was getting really annoyed with her big brother.

"Tell you what. I won't tell, if he don't ask."

"...Fair enough." Applejack sighed.

As if on cue, Granny Smith led you out of the bathroom with your wounds patched and cleaned.

"Now don't touch them bandages, sonny boy. We'll replace 'em tomorrow." She then looked at her clock. "Goodness! it's time for you to go already? I reckon it is. Why don't you pick up an apple turnover on yer way out. Have a nice evenin', y'hear?"

You nodded and walked to the door, picking up an apple turnover on your way out.

Applejack watched you head out the door. She figured that she wanted to hear you thank her for saving your life, so she walked out the door a little while after you did. Afterwards, maybe she'd consider calling you a friend...

You had taken a few bites of the apple turnover. It was amazing. It was flaky, sweet, warm, just...heavenly. You thought about maybe catching a show with your mom and dad when you heard footsteps behind you again. You recognized them as Applejack's this time, and decided to thank her for potentially saving your life. When the footsteps sounded close enough, you turned around abruptly and shocked her a bit.

"Look, before you say anything, I just want to say..." You lean in and give her a warm embrace. "Thank you for protecting me back there, well, most of me anyway. I suppose we're even?"

Applejack was taken aback by your sudden display of affection, but she understood why you were doing it. "Uhm...yeah! I reckon I did save yer life, didn't I?" She closed her eyes and smiled pridefully, lifting her head up a bit. "An' I guess...we're even."

You smiled broke the hug. "Soooo yeah, now that _that's_ out of the way, what did you come here for?" You waited for her response.

She answered honestly. "Actually, I came to see if you _would_ thank me...I mean, I think what I did was pretty noble..." Her prideful face turned to one of uncertainty.

"Wait, so what you're saying is that you came over here to pretty much ask for a thank you rather than wait for one?" Your smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of annoyance.

She couldn't lie at this point. "Uh...I guess?"

You facepalmed. "By doing this, you aren't being very noble..."

"You know, you would've died if it weren't for me." She was fully defensive now.

"And I'm grateful for that! I just don't like it when people ask for thanks because it shows lack of integrity. I believe thanks is given where thanks is due."

That hit Applejack right in the heart. She hadn't really thought about that, she let her pride get in the way of her integrity, and it hurt you. She wanted to be alone, alone where she could gather her thoughts about what just happened. You saw her lip tremble, and immediately wanted to comfort her, but she ran off before you had the chance to do so. You just sighed, mentally hit yourself in the head for being so stupid, and walked the rest of the way home. All that progress you made with her today...you just ruined it all. It was over a trivial matter too! It wasn't anything to get so upset about, so why were you so bothered by it?

_...Because you're a jerk, that's why..._

With that negative thought floating around in your head, you entered your house with much less enthusiasm than when you first exited the Apple family household. You were disconnected from everything else the entire evening, you ate your dinner thoughtlessly, and crawled into bed to try and forget about today...

_**Applejack's room, 9:00 PM**_

Applejack wanted to go to sleep, but alas, she could not. That conversation with you still burns in her brain.

_"I just don't like it when people ask for thanks because it shows lack of integrity."_

She turned to her side and hung her head low. It was a trivial matter to be upset by, but why did what you say affect her so much? She looked to her dresser, her brown stetson hat and hair band sitting on top of it. She looked town to her feet and closed her eyes. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she held them back.

_Don't let what he says get to ya, you don't even like 'im that much!_

_I like him enough to care what he thinks about me..._

_I think he was just overreacting is all, you deserve a thanks, whether you need to ask fer it or not._

_Now that I think about what he said, it was pretty shallow of me..._

_It still doesn't give him the right to talk to ya like that. Now, there's absolutely NO chance he's ever gonna like you, might as well give up, AJ._

_Maybe I'll apologize tomorrow and see if he apologizes. What then?_

_I dunno, if he does, great. If not, he's not worth you anyway._

Applejack let out a sigh both physically and mentally. For the first time ever, you were in her dreams...


	6. Burrowing into her Head

_**The Next Morning...6:30 AM**_

You woke up uncerimoniously and reluctantly to banging at your door. It was your dad, telling you to hop right to it. With no other logical course of action presenting itself, you obey. As you shower, the conversation from last night still rings in your head. Her gorgeous green eyes tearing up like that...you wish you had just kept your mouth shut. Maybe none of that would've happened. When cleaning yourself, you take extra care cleaning your wounds. You had to take the bandages off, so they wouldn't be ruined. The scratches still hurt, but the pain was greatly reduced.

Your parents fussed over them of course, but you assured them it was just a mistake you made while getting firewood. Your parents went with it and had you apply ointment to them last night. But you digress. You finished showering and dried yourself off. Today, you wore brown cargo shorts and a 'Legend of Zelda' shirt.

You re-applied the bandages to your wounds and headed downstairs where your mom greeted you with a look of sympathy in her eyes. She gave you bacon again, still your favorite despite the pig incident. You supposed that she felt bad about your wounds and so wanted to make you feel better. Your father was swamped with work, so he didn't say hi to you. After your bacon breakfast (with a side of eggs) you headed on out the door.

As you walked on over to the barn, you thought about yesterday evening again. You thought again about how torn up Applejack looked after you told her she had no integrity. Honestly, you think now she deserved to rub it in your face. If you were alone then that bobcat would've done more than a number on you. You figured that you would apologize to her today...if you saw her today. There was a high chance you would, seeing as how you both worked together the last two days. Still though, there was a chance things may change...

As usual, you approached the gate where Granny Smith was. She was just as bright an cheery as ever, but seemed to notice your sadness and asked what was wrong. You didn't feel like telling her, so you told her not to worry about it. She seemed satisfied with your answer and told you to go meet Big Macintosh in the Apple Cellar. You nodded and headed off at a slow pace...

Big Macintosh beckoned you over to the Apple cellar and had you take a seat. Afterwards, he briefed you that you will be making cider today. He'll show you the ropes, then later Applejack would join in to help you.

Upon hearing her name, your heart did back flips in your chest. You were both stressed and relieved to hear you will be working with her today. Stressed because you're afraid of how she will react to you, and relieved that you get to see her today. when he shows you to the apple squeezer and shows you how to work it, he leaves and Applebloom is there to keep an eye on you. Upon him leaving, your brain rings in for a conversation with yourself...

_You love Applejack..._

_I think we've already established that fact._

_No, I mean you LOOO~OOOVE her_

_What! NO!_

_Oh come on. If you remember back to one night derping about the internets, there was a page you stumbled across...what was it called...?_

_...How to tell if you're in love?_

_Yeah! That's the one! It said that one of the signs that you're in love is that you-_

_I know, I know. One of the signs is if you feel genuine concern for her well being and if she's on your mind a lot._

_Exactly~_

_So you're accusing me of falling head over heels for her!_

_Nope, I'm IMPLYING that you're falling head over heels for her._

_Well...I haven't! I'll have you know that I plan to stay single!_

_With a girl like her next door to you? I won't let you._

_...You suck brain..._

_You're welcome. Now go tell her you're sorry today and hope you can make ammends. Do it for her!_

_Okay...but you still suck._

_And you blow._

_Well...you SWALLOW!_

_Geez, this brings 'self abuse' to a whole new level..._

_You're right, I'm gonna get back to work, I'm creeping myself out._

And now with that ugly conversation out of the way, you do as Big Macintosh demonstrated. You took about 20 apples, loaded them into the pressing machine. Pulled the lever, watched as a cascade of applejuice collected into a barrel, and repeated until the barrel was full. Then, you sealed off the barrel and but it with the rest so you could scrape the pulp off of the machine and prepared the next barrel. It was an easy task, a bit boring though. Applebloom was watching you the whole time. She just kinda sat there with an innocent grin...

Eventually, she decided to strike a conversation with you.

"So...my sister was talkin' 'bout you all last night."

Your heart started to thud. "Ohhh ummm...did she now?"

"Eeyup, she kept blabbin' on about how much she didn't like what you told her...just what did you tell her anyway? I think yer nice, so I'm sure you at least had a good reason, right?"

You let out a sigh, and told Applebloom the truth. You told her about what she went out to tell you and about how it seemed you two were about to become friends. Then you told her how you single-handedly screwed it up by saying she had 'lack of integrity' for asking for a thanks and about how much you truly regretted it to see her so sad...

When you were done, Applebloom clasped her hands together and said, "Awwww that's so cute! I think someone's in love!"

"I am NOT in love with your sister." You narrow your eyes.

"Yes, ya are! If ya care about her and if ya want to comfort her when she's sad, then it's a sign yer in love! Do ya like her at least?"

"Yes...I MEAN NO! I mean..." _Dammit._

"AWWWWWWWHHH That's so sweet! Don't worry, my friends are coming over later today and so you'll have plenty of help with gettin' my sister's heart! Oh! One of my friends has an older sister that's coming over too, so you'll meet her as well! She likes to play match-maker, so there's no way yer NOT gonna get with my sister. I think y'all will make a great couple!" She has the most excited look in her eyes.

_Oh FUCK ME!_

You knew there was no stopping a young girl like her at this point. She was going to have her friends and perhaps one of APPLEJACK'S friends helping you get with her. This may not seem like such a bad Idea...except...you didn't _want_ help. You wanted to handle your feeling on your own...at your own pace.

"Look, can you please _please_ not? I'm pretty sure she doesn't even like me. Especially since I said...what I said last night."

"Actually, I think she might..."

Your head perks up upon hearing this. "And why would that be?"

"Because she was very upset with what you said. If she spent THAT much time worrying about it...she's gotta care about what ya say, right?"

"...I guess so..." Your mood was slowly being lifted.

"And if she cares about what ya say, then that mean she cares about YOU, right?"

"...I suppose..."

"And if she cares about you, but doesn't wanna show it, then she most likely has a crush on ya back!" She smiles triumphantly.

Well, you didn't expect such wisdom to come from Applebloom, but you weren't complaining. This was the best news you'd heard in forever.

"Really? That'd be pretty awesome if she did!" You didn't bother hiding the excitement in your voice.

"Yeah! And with me, my friends, and Rarity, how can we possibly fail?"

"Yeah! How could w...wait. Who's Rarity?"

"She's the friend of Applejack's."

"Oh...odd name."

"She's very generous and nice, but a bit intrusive."

"Good to know..."

"Well, It was nice talkin' to ya, but I gotta go meet them! I expect them to be here any minute! Don't worry, You've made more than enough barrels for Big Mac. Why don't you come meet them!" She grabs your arm and drags you out of the cellar.

"Woah wait wait wait already!"

"Yeah let's go!" She tugs on your arm harder and leads you out faster.

You know better than to speak against a young girl who clearly has her mind made up, and so you go out of the cellar and wait around for these friends...

You spot Applejack feeding livestock over to the left of where you stand. She looks as gorgeous as ever and you feel butterflies in your stomach upon seeing her. She looks at you, gives a small smile, then shakes her head quickly and shoots you a death glare before returning to work.

_I am so fucked..._ You muse to yourself.

**Authors note: This is all I was able to get done on my busy day today :'( But I will get the next part to this chapter done in due time, so please bear with me here. I didn't expect to be this busy. I love you all, and thank you for being such wonderful readers! :D**

Peace out!

-Jex


	7. Digging Your Way Deeper

_**Earlier that day...**_

Applejack had gotten up at her usual time, got ready for work, and had herself a simple breakfast. She had more difficulty than usual getting up, since you kept her up all night. It bothered her to no end. It was like you...burrowed your way into her head. It was something she wanted NOT to happen, but it happened nonetheless.

She went out to work that day without her usual gusto in completing farm tasks and rather than talk with Big Mac when they were carrying apples to the cellar like they usually did, she refused to talk to him. Big Mac knew something was up, but he respected that Applejack didn't want to talk about it. He figured, however, that it had something to do with you. He was going to have to ask about it later when the timing was right...

Applejack's head was overflowing with thoughts about last night still. Again, she wondered if you had the gall to apologize today. Last night, all her thinking about the issue made her feel bitter. As stated earlier, she wasn't in the mood to talk, and that being said, she _certainly_ didn't want to talk to you. Last night, she eventually reasoned with herself that you didn't like her at all because of what she said to you, and she figured that if you're judging her by something she said, then you aren't worth her. She still had her pride, after all...

This morning, she was taking buckets filled with apples and hauling them to the tractor to sell at the market. They sold apples by the bushel or individually (individual apples kept in buckets), so that's why they loaded bushels last time. As she loaded the buckets in, she was mentally talking to herself...

_I sure hope I don't see his face today..._

_But what if he wants to apologize?_

_No! He shouldn't be allowed to, he had no right to-_

She stopped herself there...she listened to how irrational she was sounding. You didn't do anything to prompt her to not forgive you if you apologized. She needed to know why she was thinking the way she was...

_Now...why in tarnation do I care so much about what he thinks about me?_

_Because you like 'im._

_I don't like 'im!_

_Then explain why yer more riled up than a rattlesnake with Tabasco in his eye..._

_Well I-..._

She kept on thinking, but no other explanations presented themselves. She didn't want to admit to herself that she liked you, oh no. That would be both ridiculous and wrong. She didn't like you...she.._couldn't_ like you. It would only lead to her heart being broken, she knew. Still, she also knew that it's next to impossible to completely ignore one's feelings for another. She had never _actually_ fallen in love before, since falling in love is more than just a schoolgirl's crush, and she wanted to avoid that as much as she could. She had heard horror stories from her friends at school telling her how awful it was to have their heart broken by their significant other. Now, Applejack was a nice and understanding girl, but when her friends had a recent break-up...she tried to stay away from them as far as possible. Why?

Because.

They.

Would.

_Never._

Shut.

The.

_Hell._

**UP!**

**ABOUT!**

_**IT!**_

...At least...not for a long time. Applejack didn't want to be like her friends in regards to that. She wanted to stay her old self, the self she knew and loved very well. Level headed and stress free. Unfortunately for her...you were making it _very_ hard for her to be stress free...or level headed for that matter, considering how out of it she was as of last night. (and frankly, how she still is...)

But enough of that. Applejack had done enough for now and was now ready to meet her friend Rarity. Earlier, Applebloom had invited her two friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over. Rarity overheard Big Macintosh discussing it with Sweetie Belle's father and asked if she could tag along to see her friend as well. Both Big Mac and Sweetie Belle were okay with it and Applebloom certainly would not mind. Rarity should be on her way now, Applejack figured. She was going to go wait by the front door. Heck, maybe they'd even make cider together today. It'd be fine as long as..._he_ wasn't involved... Then again, she knew he would be, being the not-so-hired city boy and all...

Meanwhile at the front door, Applebloom was waiting for her two friends. You were there with her, since she INSISTED that you meet them as soon as possible. With nothing else to do, you sort of just sat there twiddling your thumbs out of boredom. You weren't bored for long as an elegant white sedan soon came into view. Applebloom hopped up and down excitedly and bolted for the car that just stopped near your location.

"SCOOTALOO! SCOOT-SCOOTALOO!" Applebloom sang cheerfully as the car door opened.

_Is that her...name?_ You ponder quietly to yourself. Then again, there's a girl named Applejack and another named Applebloom, so you guess weird names are like...customary here. Besides, they're just names anyway...

Out of the door stepped a small girl who was a bit shorter than Applebloom. She was wearing tom-boyish cargo shorts that were like yours, but smaller and baggier. She had an orange shirt that said "I'm NOT a chicken" on it. It had a chicken with a red slash going through it at the center. You figured she was the stereotypical tomboy.

"Hey Applebloom!"

Gosh, she even sounded the part.

"Hey Scootaloo! Check out this cool guy that's helping us on the farm this summer!" Applebloom eagerly pointed to you.

Scootaloo put a hand to her chin and looked you over inquisitively. It's almost as if she's checking to see if you're REALLY cool or not...

"Yeah, he seems cool enough." She closed her eyes, folded her arms, and nodded.

Looks like she was...

The elegant white sedan drove away and soon following it was an orange Volkswagen. Funny, you've never seen an _orange_ Volkswagen in a long time... Unusual car, it is. You loved to play the game where you punched your friend's arm every time you saw a Volkswagen. You didn't like the way they looked, and thought that whoever bought them either wanted to scare their children, or they were trollin'. (Who DOESN'T want to drive around knowing that somewhere, because of your car, people are currently punching each other. That's like...free chaos! Goody goody!)

That train of thought aside, it was indeed an orange...Volkswagen that pulled up and the doors opened. First, a small girl about Applebloom's size walked out. She wore a simple white dress made for a child about her age and had on small bedazzles shoes. Seemed like a stereotypical girly girl to you. You wondered if Scootaloo and this new girl fought a lot.

"Hey Sweetie Belle! Is Rarity here too?" Applebloom chimed.

_Meh, two more odd names..._

"Yeah!" The girl known as Sweetie Belle said in a rather high pitched voice. "Rarity's here, she's-"

"Right here dears~" A feminine voice with an English accent piped up. The owner of the voice stepped out of the car and...woah...

This girl looked..._fabulous_. (For lack of a better term.) She was decked out in all kinds of trinkets, accessories, and the like. She wore jeans that had 3 diamond patterns stitched on to each hip and the legs flared out at the end, accentuating her voluptuous hips, and she had on a white shirt with a heart (made of small blue gems) on it. She had cherry red lipstick, curly luxurious hair, and nearly flawless skin. (Obviously make up was involved.) Her eyes were Sapphire blue and her hair was...Navy Blue? What the...

_You know what? I'm going to say it now. This town is __**weird**__..._

_Ha! It's funny because she was looking good up until you got to the hair..._

_Shut up, brain..._

Mentally ripping yourself back to reality, you see that she's now a few feet away from you and seems to be...examining you? You dunno. She has an eyebrow raised, her chin covered by her hand, and her eyes are traveling up and down your outfit.

"My my, I heard my friend Applejack had a bit of a problem at the farm but I _never_ expected for her to mean _this_...

You rolled your eyes.

"Who are you exactly?" You ask.

"Oh dear, where are my manners! They call me...Rarity!" She flared out her dainty arms for dramatic effect, causing you to roll your eyes again. "I design dresses over at the neighboring city just down that road." She pointed down the road they came from.

_Wait, a city down the road! I'm saved! Oh wait..._

When you looked down the road, there was no city in sight.

_...Blast!_

"Is Rarity really your name?" You ask, not caring if it's rude or not.

Oh of course not darling, that's a ridiculous name! She cracked a small grin.

Inside, your mind was swirling with the rage of irony.

"My real name is..." She continued.

_**~*INSERT CONVENIENTLY PASSING MAC TRUCK WITH IT'S HORN BLARING TO DROWN OUT ANYTHING SHE'S SAYING AS IT PASSES BY*~**_

_**Umad? :3**_

"...but please darling, just Rarity will do."

Nodding dumbly, you decide to just go with it and find Applejack. You really _really_ wanna apologize now. Why? You were afraid AJ invited this girl over as punishment...

"Girls! Now that you're all here, I gots somethin' to tell y'all! C'mere! You too Rarity!" Applebloom hopped up and down excitedly and winked at you...

_Gods no..._

After meeting them all, you really didn't think this unlikely team would help your situation with Applejack at all. Then again, there's no changing Applebloom's mind. You saw the girls discussing something and occasionally...giggling? A lot of the giggling was coming from Rarity, actually...

Soon they all nodded simultaneously and approached you.

_...Gods no..._

Rarity spoke up first. "My my my~ Applejack hasn't really ever had a gent take her fancy yet, so good news is, that it will make your first time kissing all the more special!"

Then Sweetie Belle spoke. "Don't worry! Me and Rarity will have you and Applejack kissing under the moonlit sky by um...nightfall! Yeah! nightfall!" She grinned innocently.

"Hey girls, do you know what this means?" Scootaloo seemed to be stifling a scream.

"SPECIAL TALENT BRIGADE: MATCHMAKERS!" They all called out in unison.

_...GODS NOOooOOOoOooOooo!_

This is probably going to end terribly. They will probably want to tell Applejack about your feelings towards her, resulting in her rejecting you and pushing you away. Not to mention, you don't want to kiss her yet! Although the idea sounds nice... _NO NO NO!_ This is sure to end in disaster! You have to stop them!

"And just what do you plan to do?" Well... you had to at least know what they _planned_ to do first.

Rarity put her hand on your shoulder, fixated you with a gaze of intense seriousness, and spoke to you in a voice that was all business. "I've known Applejack for years now, and so when it comes to what she likes and dislikes, you can call me a sort of expert!" She then pointed to your outfit. "And it will certainly be hard to impress her with..._that_ attire...

"Hey, what's wrong with my outfit!" You snapped, quickly getting annoyed with her.

"Oh nothing really..." She trailed off.

You were two seconds from exploding.

"...I mean, it just will not capture her attention, is all." She finished with a nervous smile.

"Who said I wanted to capture her attention?" You sat down under the shaded porch. "All I want to do right now is apologize."

"For what? Your messy attire?"

You shot her a death glare.

"Oh I'm just joking. But really, what would you be apologizing for, hmmm?" She rested her chin on her outstretched hands and leaned forward to listen. By now, the three young girls were out in the yard playing tag. They couldn't start without Rarity, and so they were just waiting for you two to stop talking.

You sighed and told her the entire story about the previous night. As you told it, you saw Rarity appear to be in deep thought. You figured that she was just trying to come up with ways to ultimately lead up to you two 'kissing under the moonlit sky' as they put it. Gee, the more you thought about it, the better the idea seemed. Regardless, it was far too soon to be thinking about that.

Rarity put her finger to her chin and looked around for a bit. Then she snapped her fingers. "I-deeeaaa~" She sang.

_...Well that's a bad sign..._

"Alrighty, what's the brilliant idea?" You decided to humor her.

"You and Applejack are making cider today right?" She sounded like she was getting somewhere.

"Uh...yeah what about that?" You were a bit curious now, it didn't seem like they were going to outright TELL Applejack how you felt about her anymore...

"Since I shall be helping make the cider, I think me and the little ones are more than capable of convincing her that you aren't a bad guy and that you really miss seeing her smile. Upon hearing this, she will see the romantic side in you and practically jump your bones! It's the perfect plan!~" Rarity's eyes lit up with this plan, she must be very proud of it.

You on the other hand...

"Hold it, although that _sounds_ like a good idea, but..."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow up, interested on why you had such dis-contempt for her perfect plan.

You ran your fingers through your hair and began explaining. "First of all, I doubt Applejack will _actually_ be helping with the cider, seeing as how she doesn't wanna see me today judging by that look she gave me..."

"Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle will make sure she's helping us make the cider."

"Regardless of whether she does or not, the look she gave me earlier would make a tiger release it's bowels out of fear."

Rarity shuddered at your unusual remark..."Erm...you don't say?" She grinned nervously. "...Well, Applejack and I are very close, therefore I can convince her to at least give you a chance." She gave a warm smile.

Now it seemed like she was honestly trying to help you instead of try to board the gossip train. You had an improved opinion of her now, she's nice really, if not a little intrusive...

"...You really think you can do that for me?" You gave her a small smile back, happy to see if you can make amends with Applejack after all.

"Of course darling, it's what I do!" She tousled your hair. Why does everyone do that!

Just then, Applejack came into view. She took a look at Rarity tousling your hair and stopped for a bit, as if she was trying to figure you what to make of this situation. After a few seconds of her having a completely blank face, she shook her head quickly and snapped back to reality.

"Oh, hello Applejack~" Rarity sang in her English accent. Admittedly you liked English accents, but Applejack's was far cuter; especially when she laughed...

Focus man. Applejack's about to respond...

"Howdy Rarity." She then looked at your direction and sighed. "And howdy umm...boy."

"What happened to 'City boy.'" You asked jokingly.

"City boy, whatever..." She face palmed.

"Big Macintosh tells me we get to spice the cider today!~ Oh joy, it's always my favorite part!" Rarity jumped up and down a little, most likely more excited about getting you and Applejack together than the cider spicing in question.

"Eeyup, we sure as sugar do." Applejack had faked enthusiasm in her voice and sounded absolutely exhausted. Even Rarity could tell. You knew by the look in Rarity's eyes that she was concerned for her southern friend.

"Applejack, are you alright?" Rarity put her hand on her chin inquisitively.

"Y-yeah! I'm fine. Don't you worry 'bout me, I'm finer than one of them...fancy tipped hairbrushes ya got..." You could tell she was lying, Rarity could tell she was lying. Neither of you said anything, however.

"R-right. Well shouldn't we be going? I'm sure the little ones would love to help us." Rarity placed a hand behind her head nervously and glanced about.

"Huh? OH! Oh yeah, let's...go..." Applejack sighed and walked off towards the cellar.

As Applejack quickly walked ahead, Rarity turned her gaze to you and whispered. "Judging by how I know _exactly_ how a woman's mind works and based off of the story you told me about last night, I'd say you've kept her up all night. I think the poor girl likes you!" She gave you a smile that showed empathy for her friend's plight yet happiness since her potential feelings for you might serve her well later.

The words echoed in your head...

_The poor girl likes you..._

_The poor girl likes you..._

_The poor girl likes you..._

...And you liked her back...

**Authors note: It's done, it's still kinda short and I apologize with all my apples. Bear with me though, these are what you would call the 'Catalyst Chapters.' You know, the ones where things **_**really**_** start to change. Anyways, just know that I love all the attention this fic is getting and I look forward to your reviews, suggestions, messages, critiques, ect.**

~Jex, OUT! ^.^


	8. An Abrupt Stop

**Applejack's Head: 10:35 AM...**

_Whelp, behind you is yer so called 'crush' talkin' ta Rarity, it looks like she'll steal 'im fer sure._

_Come on, AJ, have faith in him. If he truly likes ya, he'll tell ya in time and not be with Rarity._

_But...what if he doesn't truly like me? What will I do then?_

_You'll move on, seriously. How hard can it be t' forget about one single guy? You've never had this much trouble before gettin' a crush outta yer head, so what's the hold up?_

_...I think I really like him, I really believe I do..._

_Come on, yer just being naive now, come on, lets leave 'im alone and get to the task at hand..._

Applejack sighed as her inner thoughts ended. She was really _really_ trying to avoid the inevitable truth here, but she knew she couldn't hide her infatuation for you long. The thing that bothered her most, besides her liking you, was the fact that she didn't know why. It started with the Apple tree incident, and since then she's longed for you to hold her, to cuddle her, to kiss her. She wanted you to say cheesy romantic pick up lines to her and then cause her to blush in return. She wanted you to nuzzle her into smiling when she was having a rough day. She wanted to cook things with you in the Apple family kitchen, and she especially wanted you to make her feel loved like no other guy has.

Truly, she was completely crazy over you; and in return, it drove _her_ crazy. This was especially true since you two weren't on good terms. She couldn't just ask you to hold her all the sudden, (Although frankly, if she did you'd be happy to oblige) and besides, she really wanted to hear an apology from you today. If you did that, then she would be more than happy to forgive you and then she would be infinitely more confident in expressing her infatuation towards you.

She walked down in the cellar where the barrels of unspiced cider you squeezed were waiting. There were quite a few barrels, so it was best to get started immediately. Rarity, you, and the three little girls followed soon afterwards. You all took seats with Rarity next to you and the three little girls next to Applejack. The latter of which unscrewed a barrel and looked you in the eyes and said in a tone of complete indifference,

"Now looky here, to spice the cider all ya gots to do is add in a few cinnamon sticks, some whole cloves, some nutmeg, and 3 cups of lemon juice per barrel. After that, y'all just put the finished and sealed barrel onto the storage shelf with the rest. Ya clear?"

Everyone nodded eagerly except for you.

"Good, now git to it. Afterwards, we'll hang around the house since today's generally not a busy day. That means that _city boy_ over here can leave if he wants to." She cast a glance in your direction that you ignored.

You opened the barrel and stared at the contents. The barrel contained an elixir that looked a lot like unfiltered apple juice, and essentially that's what it was. You started by placing in a few cinnamon sticks, followed by a handful of cloves, a few tablespoons of nutmeg, and finally you added in the lemon juice. You used a wooden spade to stir it gently and then you re-sealed the barrel and set it on the counter. By the time you finished, Applejack was putting her second one on the shelf. Since you two were relatively close to each other, you decided to try and apologize...

"Hey Applejack?"

She almost drops her barrel upon hearing your voice. "Oh shoot! Uh..I..er... I mean hey." She shows a near expressionless face, but there was one thing you detected from what you saw: _Nervousness._  
She hadn't ever looked so nervous around you and you didn't know why.

"Look, I think you and I need to talk." You try and put on your best sympathetic face.

"Oh yeah? Well I guess we should." Applejack scooted the barrel to it's proper place on the shelf and grabbed her arm nervously. On the inside, she was practically squealing with joy.

_Oh my gosh! Is he actually going to do it? Is he gonna apologize?_

_Looks like it...Land sakes, I didn't think he was actually gonna do it!_

"I-" You begin.

"Oh there you are darling. Come quickly! There's something we must talk about!" Rarity walks in just as you're about to apologize. Oh man, why couldn't she have waited a little longer...

"Rarity, I'm kind of in the middle of som-"

Rarity shot you a death glare which caused you to visibly cringe. What could be so important...

"This cannot wait! Come quickly!" She grabbed your arm and dragged you into the other room where the barrels were, leaving Applejack hanging there. God, the look on her face broke your heart. You figured she wanted you to apologize and you were finally going to! You would just have to wait until next time...

"Alright Rarity, what is it!" You snap at her.

"Oh darling, please don't tell me you were trying to talk to her _already_!"

"So what if I was? She looked like she was open for conversation." You pull her hand from your arm.

"It's much too soon for that! We have to _build the mood_ first~" She clasped her hands together.

"Do what now?" You cock an eyebrow.

"Oh you know, set the atmosphere, establish the emotions, you know...build the mood for when you finally confess to Applejack."

Your heart did backflips. "Woah woah woah! No, I don't want to confess to her just yet! Right now, I just want to apologize. Then after that, we can discuss dating." You sat down on a bench in the cellar.

Rarity flipped her hair a little before responding, "But if you don't take action right after you apologize then she will think you're friend-zoning her. Since it's very apparent that she likes you, then we need to show her that you are a gentleman suited for a lady such as herself. We need to build a romantic atmosphere, give her the confidence for talking about her feelings, find you a gift to present her, and _then_ you may apologize."

"That sounds...so complicated...man, are all you girls _really_ this hard to impress?" You covered your face with your hands and sighed.

She then sat next to you. "I know how hard this must seem for you, and to be honest, some of this might not be that necessary. I'm simply taking precautions is all. I really want to see her happily together with someone and judging by your genuine affection for her, you will be perfect. It's always been my dream to play matchmaker...I mean, I had a boyfriend who was just as much of a hopeless romantic as I was. I still miss him..."

"Oh really?" Judging by her looks, you weren't surprised that she's had a boyfriend before. "What happened then?"

_I think it was the blue hair..._

_Brain, that was mean. Nobody cares what you think anyway..._

Rarity took in a long sigh. "Well, if you must know, he didn't exactly stay that way. He was the sweetest, most romantic gentleman you ever laid eyes on...at least...as long as he got what he wanted in bed. On the occasional nights I didn't gratify him, he would sleep around with other women and drop the "I was at work" excuse." Tears began to form in her eyes. "Ever since then, I've been cold, distant from other men, and reluctant to get close to them. I trust you because you look like you couldn't get any girl you put your mind to. That and your description of how you felt about Applejack was so genuine and so _so_ sweet..." She chuckled, and you decided to let that remark slide.

"But..." She continued, "You would do much more justice for Applejack. I've played the love game plenty of times before, and I've lost. Dear Applejack on the other hand, poor girl hasn't even been given a proper chance at playing it. If you really get to know her at a more personal level, I think you could make her so happy..." The tears in her eyes turned from sorrow to joy in seconds. "And that is why I want to make sure this goes over perfectly. I'm what you would call the 'Spirit of Generosity,' not meaning to brag of course...There's nothing I love more than helping my friends and giving things to them. Applejack on the other hand is quite different from me as you can tell by both our appearances and our lifestyles. She's more of what you would call the 'Spirit of Honesty,' she loves doing her part in society and she hardly _ever_ lies..."

_Bullshit..._ You think as you remember her watching you yesterday morning.

"She's one of the most down-to-earth girls I know...and therefore she's very level headed and reasonable. Her honest view of everything has it's downsides, however, as she can sometimes be _too_ blunt with people...She always means well, but she doesn't understand social etiquette as well as I." Rarity continues.

"So with that being said, you two would compliment each other perfectly. She would keep you in line, and you will provide her with the love I know she yearns for. Whenever I had a significant other, I saw a slight glint of jealousy in her eye." She winked at you.

"Uh huh...and what do I do once you set up this 'atmosphere.'"

"You two sit down, talk about what you wish, you will apologize, she will accept, you two will make up, perhaps you two may even kiss!"

You perked up at that comment.

"And later, if you two feel that it's right..." She nudged you with her elbow. "I believe you and Applejack would do _more_ than just...kiss under the moonlit sky..." She gave another wink for added emphasis. You didn't have to be a genius to get what she was implying...

You felt your heart do several flips in various directions, and your throat drying out faster than a chimpanzee at the slot machines. Was she really encouraging you to knock boots with her friend? Hm, although the idea really did appeal to you, you couldn't really see that happening between you two. You scrapped that idea and would gladly settle on just getting on good terms with her.

"I dunno about that last part. And furthermore, how are you so relaxed about telling me and Applejack to...you know..."

"Bang?"

"Jesus, Rarity! Uh...I mean yes."

"Well as I've mentioned earlier, I've had my share of men in my life and therefore I've had men in my bed before. I guess it's because it's really nothing to be nervous over and definitely should not a taboo subject. We're humans, and humans are sexual beings. As we enter early adulthood, it's important to be sexually healthy and if you start early and stay responsible, your honeymoon won't be nearly as awkward."

Well, she did have a point there. Again, you didn't want to _actually_ consider having sex with Applejack; that would be getting your hopes too high. You should just save her for your late night fantasies.

"Yeah sure, whatever, but let's focus on one thing at a time alright? Are you going to start with this 'building of the atmosphere?"

Rarity beamed, "Of course deary! Let's get started right away! The first part of the plan is for the little girls to talk to Applejack under my supervision of course."

You chuckled. "Oh really? What comes after that?"

"One thing at a time, deary."

You rolled your eyes.

Applejack was doing the cider spicing again with the trio of Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. All was going well, but she wondered where you and Rarity had gone off too...as soon as she finished the thought, Rarity came back into the room with her usual confidence and you sort of moseyed on in with your usual passiveness. Applejack let out a sigh, she was pretty sure Rarity was trying to get you, but she had no proof. There was nothing she could do but mentally glare at Rarity. Still, she had a shred of hope that you were more interested in her, so she kept quiet.

Rarity had told you what was going to happen, so you did as you were supposed to and left the cellar.

"And jus' where do you think _yer_ going?" Applejack eyed you suspiciously.

"Nature's calling." You said simply. Applejack nervously turned red.

"Well uh...go on then, hurry back." Applejack gestures you to shoo. You comply.

You exit the room and wait in the hallway just beyond where you are visible. Meanwhile, the three girls and Rarity start to strike up a conversation with Applejack...

"So Applejack." Sweetie Belle begins. "I hear that new guy is really sweet..." She bats her eyelashes.

Applejack felt a blush burn its way across her face. "Uhh...ya heard wrong." She said simply.

Scootaloo joined the conversation next. "Oh please, what could he have done that was sooo bad?"

"That's...none of yer business..." Applejack couldn't make the blush leave her face.

"Come now Applejack, you're obviously distressed. You don't normally look as tired as you do now...please tell us what has you so bothered?" Rarity asked, pretending not to know.

Applejack remained silent.

"Sister! Someting's wrong an' we're trying to help! Why don't you tell us what's wrong?" Applebloom put her hands to her hips.

"Because y'all don't need to know!" Applejack said a little louder than she should have, which only further piqued the curiosity of those in the room.

"Tell us!" Scootaloo pushed.

"No!" Applejack insisted.

"Come on, tell us!" Sweetie Belle pleaded

"NO!" Applejack insisted again.

"Girls please, let me handle this." Rarity approached Applejack with a sly grin on her face.

_...Well shoot..._ Applejack thought to herself as she felt she knew what Rarity was about to do.

"Applejack, will you please tell me what's troubling you." Rarity asked politely.

"No can do, sugarcube." Applejack tried to brace herself for what Rarity would inevitably do...

"Well then, I have no choice." Rarity gave a wry smile, then she stared at Applejack.

"Consarn it, Rarity, I ain't telling ya nothin'!"

Rarity kept staring.

"Ya ain't as good as my big brother Macintosh!" Applejack adjusted the hat on her head.

Rarity just kept staring.

"This is a waste of our time, Rarity." Applejack was determined to not lose this battle.

Still, the stare kept going.

"Rarity no!"

More staring.

"Cut it out!"

Rarity's stare didn't falter.

"Land sakes, Rarity! I ain't tellin' ya anything!" Applejack's temper was growing shorter...

Rarity gave the stare her all.

"NNNOOOO!" Applejack slammed her boot to the ground, making an audible noise.

"Okay Applejack...you win.." Rarity put her arms up and feigned defeat.

"HA! Y'see? I told ya I wasn't gonna tell ya that I like the city boy!" She stood proudly for a millisecond before immediately cupping a hand over her mouth when she realized what she just said.

"Yep, you sure got me there..." Rarity winked at her friend.

"Horse feathers Rarity, how do you and Big Mac always do that?" Applejack put her hands over her face.

"Trade secret. Now tell me why your infatuation with him has got you so riled up?"

Applejack hung her head in defeat. She knew there was no use in denying it anymore. "Okay Rarity, you win. I...I honestly don't know why I like him, I know I really shouldn't. Somehow...he just grew on me okay? He's different from the other city boys I knew. He's polite...well fer the most part...he's funny, he's real fun to mess with..." She chuckled. "And the more time I spent with him, the more I cared about him. Now, I doubt he likes me back, but if he did...well...that would be just dandy." Her blush intensified and she nervously bit her lip.

Upon hearing all of this, your heart thudded in your chest. _I do like you Applejack! You're the prettiest, strongest, well...maybe not the sweetest but definitely the most endearing girl I've ever met. Oh if only I could come out now I'd show you just how happy this makes me..._

Then, Applejack sat down. "Rarity, promise me you won't tell him I like him. I mean, I'm angry at him because of something he said last night...and although I want him to apologize...I just want _him_ now..." Applejack rested her head on her hand.

"You want him to apologize? Well then don't you think it's time you sat down and talked about your feelings anyway?" Rarity placed her hands on her hips.

Applejack let out a long sigh. "I guess yer right, Rarity. I'll have ta, cause if I don't, I'll end up just like my friends. I'll be lonely, full of regret, and I won't stop talking 'bout it."

"That's the spirit, girl! Now let's keep working until our little darling returns." Rarity patted Applejack on the head.

Applejack got to work, then suddenly, she asked the one question that had been bothering her.

"Sooo...what if...you know...he likes _you_ instead?"

Rarity backed up for a bit, then started to laugh. "Ahahaha, oh darling, you should've heard how he referred to you as the prettiest girl he's ever known! He absolutely adores you! He loves the fact that you protected him during the bobcat incident and he told me how happy he wanted to make you..."

Applejack felt a lump in her throat begin to form. "...Did...did he really say all that?" She looked up with teary shakey eyes.

"Applejack, he is definitely infatuated with you. I think it's about time you two discussed a relationship together." Rarity looked with a stern expression.

She paused and thought about it for a moment. "...Yeah, yer right Rarity. I need to talk t' him. But can it wait until later? I have a lot I need t' think about now..."

"Of course darling." Rarity cooed, then she inconspicuously tapped her foot on the floor a few times, your cue to come back.

You pretended to open and shut the cellar door and made your way into the room. "Hey I'm back! What did I miss?"

Rarity looked at you and winked. "Oh, nothing much~" She folded her arms. "But we're behind on the cider spicing. Let's go!"

"Yeah!" The three young girls all said in unison.

Well shoot, yer right, Rarity." Applejack said and got right to the waiting barrels. You followed her example and the rest of the cider spicing went on with little to no more interruptions.

Inside your head, you were thinking about what you just heard...

_You heard the lady...she likes you!_

_Yeah, but I'm not sure what to do now. She's so amazing that I'm pretty sure I'll screw my chances just by talking to her. _

_Don't think like that, just be yourself and you'll be fine. _

_If I were to TRULY be myself, then I'd glomp her and get pepper spray to the face._

_Oh come now, you have more self control than that._

_...Um...no I do not..._

_*Sigh*...Whatever. But what about her? Can you try...for her?_

_I'll do anything for her!_

_...Then do it._

_Yessir brain sir!_

_***SLAP***__ Quit the formalities..._

_Okay okay! ...Jesus Christ..._

After you got all the barrels spiced and stored, the three girls, Applejack, Rarity, and you all went outside for a well deserved break. Big Mac said that they didn't have much going on today, so for the remainder of your shift, you could enjoy the day and perhaps spend some quality time with Applejack. The last line, he winked at you, prompting an eye roll on your part.

For most of the day, you and Applejack made _very_ small talk. She would say something, you would respond with something, wash rinse repeat. You didn't mind the limited dialogue, mainly because she was at least talking to you again. You knew you liked her, you knew it ever since that first day. You didn't know when she started liking you back, but you knew you were going to ask her when the time came. For now though, you couldn't help but notice the three young ones doing something suspicious on a hill overhead...

"Ready Scootaloo?" Applebloom called to her tomboyish friend.

"Ready!" Scootaloo adjusted the helmet on her head.

"Are you sure about this...?" Sweetie Belle cautioned.

_Oh boy..._

You were 99% sure you knew what they were about to do, and it made your stomach twist into a knot. Scootaloo was inside an empty barrel and was wearing a helmet. You figured she was about to roll down that hill and most likely break something besides the barrel. While the helmet was a nice precaution, it simply wasn't enough. You had to stop them before Scootaloo got any serious injuries.

"Hey! That's a HORRIBLE idea! Get down from there and get out of that barrel!" You shouted at the top of your lungs.

"What? I can't hea-OOHHWWOOAH!" Scootaloo accidently sent herself barreling down the hill in the barrel. What's worse? It was barreling straight towards you.

In a movement of desparation, you headed towards the barrel while all the way bracing yourself for the inevitable impact. The barrels were rather small and not that heavy, and Scootaloo didn't look too heavy either...so it couldn't be _that_ bad right?

...Famous last words...

The barrel with Scootaloo in it hit you like an oncoming train. You were flattened, your head hitting the ground with a ***WHUMP*** That luckily wasn't accompanied by any crunches, cracks, or squishing noises of any kind. However, you did feel a ringing in your ears and falling down so suddenly hurt regardless. It seemed that your body blockade did the trick, actually, as Scootaloo's barrel was slowed down significantly and spun out of it's original trajectory to hit against a tree instead. Scootaloo crawled out, dazed and fatigued. You saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle coming toward you with concerned faces. After a few seconds of lying face-down, you turned over and looked up...but you didn't see the two girls, but rather someone else...

And it was the most beautiful thing to ever behold...

Applejack had reached you first, and all you could think was _...DAYUM!_ Sunbeams reflected off of her hair and created a golden sheen that you hadn't really seen before. You knew her hair was pretty but...in this light it was just flawless. Her freckles on her cheeks and dotting her nose were just barely visible, giving her the cute face you knew and loved so much. Her green eyes...those _gorgeous_ emerald green eyes...cast off a captivating glow that caused you to not be able to move your eyes away from them. She put a hand on your chest, apparently feeling for a heartbeat, and she looked relieved to feel one. (You could feel your OWN heart pounding as she was standing so close to you.)

"You okay, sugarcube? Ya took quite the spill there..." Her (attractive) voice showed genuine concern.

You snapped out of your little trance from her. "Uh...yeah! Yeah I fine feel." You don't know why you switched those two words...

"That didn't sound 'fine.' C'mere and I'll get you a glass of water and an ice pack fer that." She grabbed your arm and helped you up. "Consider it...thanks fer the apple pickin' incident." You noticed a blush burned across her face.

"Sure...whatever." You were feeling dizzy now and so you were in no mood to question her. You just let her lead you into wherever she was taking you.

Applejack led you into the house and sat you on the couch. Your clothes weren't as sweaty as they were last time, so you didn't worry about getting their furniture dirty. She got an ice pack from the freezer and handed it to you.

"Put this on yer head." She commanded.

You touched the ice pack to your head. It was freezing! "No, It'll freeze my brain through my skull!" You were exaggerating of course, but you didn't like temperature shocks.

"Please? Do it fer me?" She gave you her sweetest smile and batted her eyelashes. That was a new tactic...

"Aw come on, Applejack..." You pleaded.

"Pleeeaassseee? She gave you puppy eyes for the first time. She had you now...curses.

"Ugh, fine." You pressed it against your forehead and braved the cold.

Applejack mentally thought to herself, _Thanks fer teachin' me how to do that, Fluttershy._

"That's a good city boy. Now wait here while I get you a glass of ice water." She cooed.

"I'm a big boy, Applejack. Talk to me like one. 'Sides, it's not like I'm going anywhere anyway..."

"Oh hush yer mouth, I'm bein' nice." She said rather quickly.

"Yes ma'am." You said on reflex. She gave you a smug grin and made her way to the kitchen.

You leaned your head against the back of the couch and tried your best to ignore the increasingly numbing sensation on your forehead.

"Damn, this is cold..."

A few seconds later, Applejack came in with a glass of ice water with a straw going through it. She placed it on the coffee table and sat beside you.

"I ain't leaving until you drink every last drop." She placed her hands in her lap and sat upright, looking expectantly at you.

You looked at the glass, then back at Applejack, then back to the glass, then at Applejack again. "...Okay, what did you do to this." You lowered your eyes at her suspiciously. You knew _something_ was off, the way she was acting towards you. Even now that you knew she had a crush on you, this behavior was sort of off...

Her face quickly developed a blush. "I uhh...I didn't do nothing...honest." She gave you an innocent smile. She really didn't do anything to it, she just enjoyed the novelty of taking care of you. However, she just done made a fool of herself now...

"Okay seriously. What did you do to it." You continued to prod for information from the country cutie.

"No, really. I didn't do anything. Stop stalling and drink it." She got a more serious expression on her face and the smile disappeared.

"Nnnno." You stuck your tongue out at her just to try and look cute for her.

Your little display seemed to work, as you heard her giggle and smile at you. "Heheh...well then I guess I'll have to make ya drink it then." Knowing Applejack as not being the most cryptic type, and considering her well known strength, you suddenly got very scared at what she might do.

"N-no no! It's okay! I'll drink it...see?" You quickly grabbed the water and vigorously gulped it down. It tasted like regular water, looks like she wasn't kidding when she pleaded innocent at supposedly tainting it somehow.

"That's what I thought. Now...earlier today...you were talkin' to me about somethin'. What was it you were gonna say?" She wrapped an arm around you and put her head on your shoulder. Even for Applejack, this was very questionable and ballsy.

"Ermm...what's with all this extra attention Applejack? This morning, you looked like you were fixing to rip my throat out!" You half-joked. Mainly because it was somewhat of an actual concern for you at the time...

"Oh hush, city boy. I've wanted to finish this conversation all day so stop avoidin' the question." She didn't move her head from her shoulder, making you think she was relaxed and comfortable against you. Sadly for you, the same couldn't be said. Gosh, you were so nervous around her. You were far different from her in that way. She was just so...relaxed around you. It sort of drove you crazy, but in a pleasant way. Seeing her this close to you made you crazy...with love. You didn't want to run from it anymore, you were totally falling for her. And nobody was going to stop you.

"Oh fine." You let out a sigh. "Well...we've sort of...stopped hating each other...right?" You cautiously said.

"Eh, I'd call it more of a temporary truce." She joked.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Well you know...after thinking about the things we said last night I-"

"Yes?" She interrupted. It was adorable to hear her so excited to have an apology from you, but at the same time, it had an annoyance value.

"Let me finish." You cleared your throat and continued. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. It's driven me insane, moreso than I already am." You rested your head on your hand.

"I had the same issue, ever since that fight, I haven't been able ta get you off my mind and I haven't the faintest clue why..." she looked off into the distance. "But I reckon you got somethin' ta do with it." She smiled at you.

"I figured the same goes for you." You smiled back at her. You figured you knew where this was leading to, and butterflies started churning in your stomach.

"And with that being said..." You continued, "I have to say that...well...I'm soohhohoh-" You found it harder to say than you think. Darn brain, always trolling.

"Yer a saw?" Applejack cocked an eyebrow at you.

"I'm soorrr..." Your voice trailed off.

Applejack knew what you were trying to say at this point and so she placed her hands on your hips and looked at you with a less than amused expression. "C'mon, city boy. It's really not that hard."

"I can do this, just give me time!" You tried to mentally focus. Applejack just groaned and facepalmed, shaking her head at you.

"City boy, yer being completely ridiculous. Just say you're sorry already and be done with it."

"Alright alright...I'm sorry alright? I was an insensitive idiot who's words hurt the girl I have a massive crush on. There I said it. You happy now?" You let all your emotions loose with that apology. Afterwards, you closed your eyes and waited for her response.

A few seconds went by, nothing happened. You feared that you creeped her out until you felt a hand on the back of your head push you forward, catching you completely by surprise and you soon felt the shock of Applejack's lips pressing firmly into yours.

She pulled away from the kiss for just a second, "Very." Then she went back in for another one. This one was even stronger than the first, and you found yourself unable to escape from her passionate embrace. Not that you wanted to anyway...

A few seconds passed before your passionate connection was broken. Applejack broke it to your dismay, but you were still recovering from the shock of it all. The kiss was _amazing_..._overwhelming_ even. You had to hand it to her. For a girl who hasn't ever had a significant other before, she sure was an incredible kisser.

"Wow…" You were only able to say that.

She giggled. "I hope you enjoyed it, that was my first kiss ever."

"Admittedly, it was mine too…" You thought her giggles were adorable.

"Well didja like it?" She looked at you with hopeful eyes.

You knew you had to be completely honest with this… "Oh man, I loved it. Where did you learn to be that good, Applejack?"

Again, she giggled. "Aw, shucks partner. I dunno, really. I just ran on instinct and went for it, y'know? An' I have to say, I'm glad you stole my first kiss."

"Stole?" You laughed. "Applejack, you _totally_ wanted it. It's not stealing. And on top of that, _you_ kissed _me_!"

She playfully slugged your arm, a blush was visible across her face. "Oh hush, city boy. You made me do it." She grabbed her arm nervously.

"Ha, you're cute." You nuzzled her shoulder. "So are you sorry for the things you said?"

"Not a chance, city boy."

"…WHAT?"

"Relax, I'm just joking." She wrapped both of her arms around you. You returned the embrace.

Outside the room, Rarity had just passed by and saw you two cuddling on the couch. She went out of view, took a step forward, and did a double fist-pump silently shouting "YES!" She was satisfied with the fruits of her labors. You two looked adorable together, just as she predicted. Everything was going according to plan…

Now to talk to Big Mac about the next part…

You and Applejack cuddled for who knows how long. (Actually, it was about ten minutes or so) Before you stood up, however, you felt her arm tug you back down into her arms.

"I'm sorry, but we still have one more thing to discuss." She bit her lip nervously. Cute.

"Oh sure, what is it?" You asked.

"Well um..." She started, "do ya think we're...dating now?" She had on the most intense blush right now.

Your heart started to thud in your chest. Did she really want a relationship with you? Applejack, the most beautiful girl you know, actually wants a relationship with you. Your mind didn't want to accept it, but the evidence was right in front of you. However, there was a nagging feeling in the back of your head...

"Well umm...you see...I really don't want to rush this..."

"Oohh..." She hangs her head down. "I'm sorry, city boy, I didn't mean ta force this on ya, I guess...we can wait a little longer if ya want?" She gives you a hopeful smile.

"Uh...yeah! Yeah I'd like that." You grinned back at her. "But don't think it's because you aren't beautiful, because you are."

"Aw shucks, yer just sayin' that just ta flatter me." A blush burns across her adorable and freckled face.

"No Applejack, I mean it. You're beautiful. Nobody should ever tell you oth-" You are unable to finish your sentence since Applejack kisses you, cutting you of...

You sigh in contentment and place a hand on her cheek, savoring the electric feel of your lips to hers, and the warmth her cheeks produce from her intense blush spread across her face right now. Kissing her...it felt so good, and yet the same nagging feeling in the back of your head as before began irritating you. You couldn't explain it, but it was slowly making you less and less comfortable with kissing beautiful Applejack. You decided to break the kiss...slowly...in order to get rid of the feeling.

Once you two had stopped kissing, she looked into your eyes with mild disappointment on her face. "Aw, I was enjoying that. Why didja stop?" She playfully pouted, sticking out her bottom lip. Gosh, that was so cute. Why _did_ you stop anyway? Besides the funny feeling you were getting in the back of your head, you didn't know. You had to tell her _something_ though...

"Oh I uh...just figured we might as well do something fun! I mean, we have the rest of the day ahead of us..."

"Sure, partner. I'd be glad to." She gave you an honest smile. You two walked out of the room, hand in hand.

Applejack suggested that you and her play on their tire swing together. You obliged happily. When Applejack got on, you surprised her by pushing her suddenly. She was scared at first, but soon after you gave her some steady, gentle pushes, she began to really enjoy the romantic scene you two were sharing. She started talking to you, but she only said each word as she passed you by on the swing, making your conversation sound spaced and maybe a bit awkward...

"So...what thing...about me...is the most...attractive?" She inquired.

"Definitely...your...eyes." You told her as she passed by. Again, you saw her blush.

"Well...shucks...that's about...the nicest thing...anyone's ever...said to...me."

"It's...true." You assured her.

"I...wish...moments...like...these...could...last...forever." Applejack said as she passed by you yet again.

_...Awwww..._

_Bro, just for that, your manliness has just dropped by 20 points._

_Fuck you, brain...she's sweet._

_Oh what's that? Do I feel you growing a vagina? I'm your brain, so I can make it happen!_

_My god, you're an ass._

_Don't beat yourself up over it._

_Oh just piss off!_

_Fine fine...enjoy your moment of excess estrogen._

_Alrighty, I will._

And just like that, your brain seemed to go elsewhere...Yay!

"Hey...City...boy?"

You snapped back to reality. "...Yes?"

"Yer...not like...them...other...city boys."

"Thanks Applejack!"

She jumped off the swing and landed perfectly on the ground. "Don't mention it." She then came up to you and gave you a big hug. "An' I have ta say, I'm mighty sorry fer judgin' ya like that on th' first day I metcha. I guess I better tell ya about my school life, huh?"

You noticed Applejack being more open to you than usual. Then again, you two were borderline boyfriend/girlfriend. Again, you didn't understand why you weren't just throwing yourself at her. This...feeling you have in the back of your head...it was incredibly annoying. You couldn't quite know for sure what it was, but you hoped it would go away...

You broke the hug, sat down at the base of the tree, and offered her a seat next to you. She happily obliged and you both rested your heads on one another.

"Well..." Applejack began, "when I was just a little girl, there were these two guys from the city that kept on harassing me about how I was a 'dumb country potato'. At first it was just mildly annoying, but then as we all got older, 'potato' became 'hick' and suddenly the insults became much more colorful. I tried to not let it bother me, but one day them boys crossed the line when they accused me of incest. I mean, that's disguisting! Who in their right mind would even DO that!" She folded her arms and kicked her boots out.

"Eh, given enough money..." You began.

"Don't ya _dare_ finish that sentence."

"Okay, alright...so you were saying?" You said, attempting to change the subject.

"Oh! Uh...err right. Well anyway, sometime in middle school they just pushed me over the edge with the incest comment so I started wailing on them somethin' fierce. By the end I had them bloodied and beaten on the ground. I was feelin' mighty proud of m'self, and the crowd of other kids watchin' me was hootin' and hollerin' too. It was the greatest day of my life...that is...until the principal came and got me in some serious trouble. I broke various parts of their bodies, both parents sued us, an' we lost a lot of money that way. We had to work extra hard on the farm that summer, and when them city boys got better, they jus' went back to harassing me. This time though, they bragged about how better they were at school than me and they kept on rubbing their A's in my face while I looked at my C's with indifference. I mean, I wanna run this farm when I grow up, and fer that I don't need THAT big of an education. Why in tarnation do they have to make it so hard for me, though? When school finally ended this year, them boys jus' bragged about how much better their grades were than mine. They...jus' don't know when to quit."

"Wanna know why they kept making fun of your lack of academic merit?" You were sure you knew, since you had a good understanding of how the human brain works.

"Why?" She inquired, looking deep into your eyes with her big, teary, emerald ones.

_Hnnnnnngggggg..._

"Because...they're shallow people who know they can pick on you because they don't want you to feel powerful." You saw Applejack start to form a smile across her lips and that made you as happy as you've ever been. "And they know that you're stronger than them, but they compensate for that by making you feel weak academically. And to be honest, you don't really seem all that dumb. I think you could be smarter, but you never learned how. I can help you with that too. When school starts again, I promise to show you ways you can get better grades and show those boys up. And I mean, if anything else you're the prettiest thing I've ever laid eyes on. If either one of them gives you a hard time, I'd sock them in the jaw and beat them until they swore not to tell. Are we clear, Applejack?" You looked deep into her eyes. They were brimming with happiness now. But not just any happiness, it was happiness that _you_ caused. That was what made it so special.

"City boy?" Applejack looked at you with those now bright and happy emerald eyes.

"Yes Applejack?" You stared back with half-lidded eyes.

"Would...would it be alright If I kissed ya again?" She had the biggest blush on her face ever.

"Hmmm..." You pretended to think about it, even though you already knew the answer. Applejack seemed to wear an expression of fleeting hope before you looked up at her and for the first time _you_ initiated the kiss that would end all others. Her lips on yours, they felt firmly in place yet they gave slightly, meaning they had a soft feel to them. Actually, her lips were obviously stronger than yours, since soon she started to move her lips and take control the kiss. She slipped her tounge in your mouth, and believe me, you graciously let her in, and the kiss deepened. You could have sworn that if it were a cartoon, hearts would be swarming around your head. She was holding you in her arms now, and she was giving you the absolute best tounge action of your life. You were in heaven, just letting Applejack show her love for you just like that. You ran your hands across her tummy and felt her...wow...she had very well developed stomach muscles. That was one of the reasons she captivated you, really. Her incredible strength was truly a sight to behold. Not only that though, but she had a vulnerable side to her as well. You know, the one she was showing to you now. Both sides accentuated each other perfectly, and together, it made the girl that you go wild over. She's truly beautiful, she's completely perfect, she is: The Apple of your Ey-

_Stop..._

You heard the voice clear as day, but you didn't believe it. It was your own brain crashing this little party.

_I will NOT sit idly by while my own self does such a foolish act. _

_What do you mean? I love her, and I'm showing it by kissing her. What's so foolish about that?_

_Alright, If I'm going to reason with you, first things first...  
_

_...__**STOP KISSING HER!**_

The direct command from your brain shocked you out of your kissing trance and you ripped yourself from Applejack's lovely grasp, rolling on the floor grabbing your head.

"What's wrong city boy? _City boy...what's wrong?_" Her voice faded out as your subconcious took over what you heard.

_Falling in love with her? Are you SERIOUS! Do you WANT to hurt yourself?_

_She loves me, brain. I know that much..._

_Are you sure?_

_If I wasn't, would I be kissing her right now?_

_Remember the whole lust thing?_

_Applejack's not like that._

_There is no evidence for or against that_

_Quit with your aggressive logos tactics!_

_Quit with your naive pathos surges._

_I am happy with her!_

_Listen to yourself...you're under the delusion that Applejack loves you, when really there's no possible way that can happen!_

_Oh really? Give me one good reason why she can't._

_You're a smartass lazy out-of-place loser who's more successful with online babes than he is in real life and so when a girl shows ANY interest in him, whether it's real or not, he goes completely crazy over it! Face it, bud. You heard Applejack's description of a perfect guy. There's no way she can love you..._

Those words hit your heart like a freight train. Suddenly, you understood it now. Applejack doesn't love you, she only was excited to see a guy finally take interest in her. She would probably break your heart soon after you two would start dating anyway, so when you opened your eyes and saw the teary face of Applejack looking at you with concern, you could only hold back your own tears...

"What's the matter, city boy?"

She didn't even know your name...

"Nothing...just...nothing." You chocked back some sobs. "I dunno, just...leave me alone!" You took off for your house and when you saw Applejack's confused and above all traumatized figure disappear from view, you started crying. You just let it all out. Luckily for you, dad and mom were both out on a date for the evening, so they didn't have to see you like this. You went up to your room, shut the door, and cried your eyes out.

"Stupid brain...why didn't it just let me be happy?"

_Someday you'll thank m-_

"PISS OFF, BRAIN!" You said out loud accidentally. Luckily nobody was around to hear that.

You look to the floor and let out a sigh. How could you be so blind? There was no chance in hell you and Applejack would work out. You regret even listening to Rarity in the first place. You cursed both sides of your brain. The dark, logical side that was rather aggressive if provoked, and the less logical, nice side that tried to keep you happy. You hated both sides for different reasons. The logical side for it's bluntness, and the nice side for it's near-sightedness. Now you didn't know how you were going to face Applejack now, heck the entire APPLE family for that matter. You just hurt Applejack's feelings, you couldn't imagine that Big Mac would be too happy about that. He'd probably knock your block off. Whelp, it was your fault for falling in love with Applejack in the first place, so you were just going to man up and deal with it. Take it in stride...and try not to think about her...

Later that night, you were watching TV and had just turned it off. It was about time for you to go to bed. Your parents weren't going to be home for another hour, so they left you a hot pocket to heat up for dinner. You didn't eat it though, today completely ruined your appetite. You just left it in the freezer and went back up to your room.

Earlier that day, back at the Apple orchard, Applejack was just sitting against the tree in complete shock at what just happened. You two had just gone from enemies, to friends, to almost-lovers, to who knows what in a matter of days.

"I just...don't know what went wrong!" She hung her head low.

"Oh Applejack! Hey Applejack! Where's the one you call 'City boy?'"

Applejack looks up to her friend. "His name is (Your name here). And he left a while ago, it was the darndest thing I'd ever seen. He suddenly grabbed his head and looked like he was...fighting himself. I dunno what happened specifically, but when he came back to reality, he was sad and blubbering and just ran away from me on the verge of tears. I swear, I wanted to just hug him until he felt better, but I think I did something that must've screwed up my chances with him. I'm such an idiot..." Applejack took off her hat and held it to her chest.

"Don't think that way Applejack! I'm sure he had a good reason for doing so. Maybe you just hit a soft spot with him or something." Rarity frowned as she said this.

_No no no!_ She thought. _This isn't how it's supposed to go at all! Now the rest of the plan is ruined...better tell Big Mac..._

She was going to have to talk to you again soon, just to see what happened for herself...

Later that evening, when the little girls had all left (save Applebloom) and Rarity drove Sweetie Belle home, you were on her mind constantly. She wouldn't...she _couldn't_ stop thinking about you. She told herself that she wouldn't fall in love with you, yet she kissed you multiple times today, and she loved it. She wanted more. She truly felt that she loved you, and seeing you run today broke her heart. She ate her dinner without much enthusiasm (Or talk from the family) and headed on up to bed about the same time you did. You both curled up in bed, You in your boxers and Applejack in her sleeping top and panties, your boots by your door and Applejack's stetson hat and hair bands on her dresser. You both sighed and drifted off to sleep. You fell on your back and started sleep very soon afterwards. This day had taken a huge emotional toll on you. Applejack on the other hand, grabbed a pillow, held it in her arms, and pretended it was you.

You both went on to dream of each other...

**A/N: Whoo! This is the longest chapter I've put out with this story so far. I'm glad to put it out and I hope you all enjoy it :D Also, Pedophiles are fucking immature assholes! *Zing* xD**


	9. The Girl that Loved You

**Location: Dreamland, your head, sometime between 12 PM and 6 AM...**

You were on your way to work, like usual, you didn't have much to do today, since your brain hadn't thought up what you were going to do yet. Anyway, you approached the front gate and found that Granny Smith wasn't there like usual...

It was strange, really. The entire orchard itself had somewhat of a ghostly feel to it...almost as if it had been abandoned many years ago. There were cobwebs everywhere, the porch was exceptionally dusty, and the paint was starting to chip off the fence. You couldn't really think of a reason why this was so, because in your mind this was just the next day for work. With a strong head, you took a step into the house and immediately regretted it.

The interior was pitch black, and the door shut behind you. You gasped and jerked your head around, only to find nothing that could have shut it. You were normally a brave man, but creepy situations like this, especially ones that you perceived to be reality, really threw you for a loop. Then again, you used your stoic tendency to stand your ground, and proceed.

Soon, things got just plain _weird_. A few clocks bent out of shape and flew in the air. Apples fell from the ceiling on to your head. It wasn't long before it became apparent that this was all a dream. You felt a little better now, but still, if this is a subconscious way for the brain to communicate with the body, (rather than your brain's usual... _more direct_ means...) You began to wonder what it was your brain was telling you now...

The next oddities you noticed were the sounds. There were quiet sounds of dripping water, a rope swaying, and various hushed whispers. Your heart was racing, but you didn't show any other signs of fear than that. It was a battle of wills. Your will against your brain's will to scare you. It was a battle you intended to win. At least, until you woke up...

Suddenly, the lights flashed on in the room you were in...

_Mother of God..._

What you saw made your stomach clench and your knees buckle. That trickle of water...? Well, that was _blood_. Who's blood might you ask? By the looks of it, AJ had hung herself by her own lasso and was dangling from the ceiling. She bled from her neck and it trickled gently down her stiff body. She seemed to be holding a note in her cold, dead hand. You felt tears form in your eyes upon seeing this sight. You wanted to wake up, but you had no control over your dream due to you being a rather deep sleeper. You did what any man would do, cry and cautiously take the note from her dead clutch. There was blood trickling from her finger, and so you ended up getting a little bit on your hand.

You opened the note and read in in your head...

_Dear boy-who-doesn't-love-me..._

Already it starts off pretty strong.

_I've been thinking back to that one day we shared...once...It was the happiest day of my life, so why did you have to leave me like that? You were the first boy who had ever made me happy, really. When you finally left for all those years, I lost my mind. I slowly lost my will to live and decided that if I can't be happy with you, I'll never be happy ever again. And so I must tell you, I'm killing myself so you'll see just how big of an impact you've left on me. This is your handiwork, are you satisfied now?_

_Love, Applejack._

_Aka, the girl that loved you._

Thankfully, the letter ended there. You couldn't take it anymore. The sight, the shock, the very notion that your brain could come up with such a dream. You broke down and cried from this. You grabbed Applejack's cold hand and squeezed it, hoping that it would give her life. You wanted to hold her in your arms and tell her you would always be there for her. You'd never abandon her like that, no matter what your brain told you! Yeah, it was time you took control of your life again. You didn't just lust after Applejack, you loved her. Simple as that. You were about to let her hand go and move on...until you felt her hand squeeze back...

Applejack's dead eyes shot open and the rope fell off her neck. She fell and landed on top of you. You could hardly believe it! Then again, it was a dream. But why did she come back alive, all things considered...

"Those thoughts are what I was waiting for." Applejack said in a voice you recognized as your own.

"Alright, explain this immediately." You were tired of all this and wanted answers.

"Very well, but only if you say the magic words." Your apparition of Applejack cooed.

"Fuck."

"Nope, that's not it."

"That wasn't a guess."

"Whatever."

"Let's see...I love Applejack?"

"I see that's true now, but no."

"Boobs are awesome?"

"Very true but no."

"Ugh...let's see...I'm a dick?"

"Also true, but no."

"Fuck you."

"Ding ding ding!"

"Wait, really?"

"Nope."

"Urgh! Just tell me already!"

"Fine. That was the password anyway."

You never face-palmed harder in your life...

With your argument out of the way, the illusion of Applejack spoke. "When you ran from her, I sensed something inside you that you haven't felt before. I knew I couldn't just leave this alone, and so I decided to investigate this for myself. As it turns out, you love her. You truly do. It's no illusion...or some game to you...you really do love her. The reason I was skeptic before was because you were being so...vulnerable around her. My God, you could have hurt yourself if you fell for the wrong girl. That's why I needed to test your heart's devotion to this girl."

"Look, buddy, with all due respect, how can you not know when you are literally me."

"It's different sides of your brain, buddy. I'm logic, remember? The asshole that helps you whether you want it or not." The illusion Applejack deadpanned.

"Fair enough. And yes, you are an asshole. But sometimes, you can be an awesome asshole. Now what am I supposed to do?"

"You love her right?"

"Of course I do."

"Go out and show her." Your brain reasoned.

"But I'm not worthy of her." You said hopelessly.

"Come on now, who else can beat the final boss of Super Smash Brothers in the same amount of time you can?"

"Lots of people. Applejack even said that she could beat him in less time than me."

"Personally, I think she's lying. Tomorrow is Saturday, and so you'll be able to test that anyway. Also, I'm trying to pump you up here. Don't fuck this up for me."

"Fine. Yeaahhh, I can do it, woo." You half-arsed.

"That's not good enough! You've been playing games all your life, you have a good understanding of technology, you can comprehend more than the average bear with your intelligence, and who else could capture the eye of the fair Applejack? So now I say...who's awesome!"

"I'm...awesome." You raised an eyebrow.

"Still not good enough! WHO'S AWESOME!"

"I'm AWESOME!" You started to believe in yourself.

"AGAIN! WHO'S AWWEEEESSSOOOMMMEE!"

"I'M AWESOME!"

"GOOD! NOW GO GET HER, TIGER!"

"YEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" You were pumped up now.

"And remember..." The illusion began to fade. "I'm always here to help you. I'll do my best to make sure neither of us screw this up. No matter what happens." He gave a wink afterwards. "Even if you two decide to...you know..."

"Yeah I get it. Man, even my logic-based part of my brain wants me to do her."

"Well she _is_ the ideal choice, with her wide supple hips, muscular build, large chest, she's gotta be a C cup or larger...Not to mention she totally digs you."

"Okay, that's enough. You are starting to sound like a hybrid between Dwight from The Office, and Pauly Shore in his younger years."

"SHIT! Okay, I'll stop there. Now go, go tell her that you love her."

"Aye aye, captain." You saluted the now nonexistent illusion of Applejack and waited to wake up.

_**The Following Morning...**_

Your alarm blared. About fucking time as well. You were ready to tackle on the day. You showered, got nice and cleaned up, put on some clothes, put on your work boots, and ran downstairs. However, when you reached the bottom of the stairs, you were quite surprised to find your parents downstairs without breakfast ready that morning. In fact, they were sipping coffee and still in their PJ's.

"Mom, Dad, what's for breakfast? I need to leave in a little bit?" If no breakfast was made, you would have a yogurt or something.

Suddenly, they perked up almost as if they forgot something.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention!" Your dad began.

Called it...

"You don't need to help with the farm today. Big Mac called in and said that they had enough help for the day. He said you could use a day to yourself."

_Gods no, just when I DIDN'T want a day off..._

"With that being said, you can play video games today. Enjoy yourself, kid."

_GODS FUCKING NO!_

"Erm, thanks...I'll enjoy myself today." You lied.

"Splendid. Now as for breakfast, you can have cereal or yogurt because we don't need to cook anything this morning."

Hah, parent logic. You made yourself a bowl of cereal, ate it silently, and crawled your way upstairs in a dramatic fashion since you were still unusually tired and somewhat disappointed. Your parents didn't notice, they almost never did.

When you entered your room, you flopped on your bed and thought about what you were going to do. You didn't know if Big Mac didn't want you there, or if he really DID want you to have a day to yourself. Whilst pondering this, you noticed that your computer monitor was humming. You suddenly remembered that you hadn't played your precious games in forever! You sighed to yourself, and decided to start playing Skyrim to perhaps take your mind off the whole situation.

You blew the dust off your monitor. (Already? Geez it wasn't that long...) When you turned it on, you were greeted with your familiar computer welcome screen. You clicked on your user, typed in the password, and went to Steam.

It took forever to load, but you finally got on Skyrim and picked up where you left off stealing cheese wheels and placing baskets over people's heads to access even more glorious _GLORIOUS_ cheese wheels.

A few hours passed. You had gotten rather bored of Skyrim and so you decided to derp about the internets for a while. You were going through serious screen withdrawal, and so you found some of the lamest things funny sometimes. You were actually enjoying yourself...until there was a knock at the door...

"Who would be visiting a house as far away from civilization? Unless it was...oh no..." You hoped to GOD it wasn't who you thought it was. Maybe it wasn't even for you! Yeah, it probably was someone your parents invited over for a friendly chat. Surely it couldn't be...

The door opened.

"Oh hello! You must be that nice young lady who lives near here!"

_Oh my freaking GOD!_

_Okay bro, chill. No need to freak out. There's still a chance it's not her. She may not even be here for you!_

"Huh? Oh yes. He's upstairs. It's the only door in the hallway with decorations on it. You can't miss it!"

_Okay, time to freak out..._

You started to hyperventilate. It was Applejack, no doubt about it now. What was she doing here? Did she not know that you needed time to think things through first! Was she here to beat you up? The possibilities were endless. You were formulating escape plans in your mind when you heard the unavoidable knock on the door. Your heart stopped and you shrunk in your seat.

"..I...It's unlocked..." You squeaked.

The door opened. You were turned the other way facing your computer screen. You dared not look at her. You couldn't bear the stress on your mind. Even after the dream ended, the image of her dead from being hung burned in your brain. You just wanted to leap out the window and escape her. You were sweating profusely and nearly leapt out your chair when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

"Are you alright?" An accented voice that was definitely NOT Applejack's spoke.

"Rarity? What are you doing here?" You barely managed to get out. You were somewhat relieved that it wasn't Applejack, but now there was a new fear stewing in your head. Why was Rarity coming to your house after you screwed up with Applejack...?

"After I saw what happened, I just HAD to know what was going on. It seemed to be going so well, so why did this end so badly?" She looked at you with mild sorrow in her eyes.

"I...don't know really..." You sighed and stood up, then walked over to your bed and flopped down on your back. "But I really regret it now..."

Rarity sat on your bed next to you. "Of course you do, I never doubted for a second that you loved Applejack. But if we are to make any progress on this, then you need to tell me when things started to go wrong."

"That's sort of a hard question to answer since the fact of the matter is neither of us really said anything. What happened was internal." You sat up and started explaining the entire event with your mind assuming direct control of you and forcing you to stop kissing Applejack. You told her how heartbroken Applejack looked and how awful you felt in turn. You had to go home because you reasoned with yourself that you didn't love her and that she didn't love you either. After all the events of last evening were recounted, Rarity was looking down. She looked a bit distressed and so you asked her what was wrong.

"Well, that's an interesting story, but how does a brain 'assume direct control?'"

You sighed again. "Well, you know how you sometimes think of things you've done in the past and they come back to haunt you when you think about them?"

Rarity nodded attentively, obviously she knew _precisely_ what you were talking about.

"And you know how you sometimes have second thoughts about things while you're doing them?"

Rarity nodded again. "I guess..."

"Well, my brain and I...are what you would call separate persons. I have two sides to him. One is logical, his name is 'Logos,' and the other is emotional... I call him 'Pathos.' I normally end up listening to my logical side, since he only wants what is best for me. However, my emotional side is more fun and only wants me to be happy. Sometimes, that leads me to do stupid things, and so I don't listen to him often. Now, when I first met Applejack, Logos told me to stay away from her. He figured that falling for her would be a bad idea and only end in me getting my heart broken or me breaking _hers_. It was also observed that she and I did NOT look like we would make a good couple. However, Pathos took notice that she was _hot..._"

Rarity snickered. What do you know, you're funny after all.

"...and so Pathos insisted that I at least get to know her first. Now, at first Logos _protested..._but soon he saw that I might have a chance with her yet and so he didn't say much. Then later on when Applejack and I were...kissing...I realized something. I was never more vulnerable in my life! Logos knew it too! He knew that if something went wrong, then I'd end up a different man. It was fear, Rarity. I've never been in love before and so Logos did what he thought would save me. And so, with that, he 'assumed direct control' in an effort to protect me. However, his execution was poor and only ended up hurting me AND her. But last night, in order to test my actual dedication to her, Logos put me through a rather unusual dream last night..."

"Wow...so what kind of dream was it? What happened?"

You told her about the dream and about how Logos saw that you truly loved her and needed to experience love for the first time. You also told her that since you didn't have to go to the farm today, you couldn't beg for Applejack's forgiveness.

Rarity stared off into space for a minute, processing all the information. "Well...that's certainly interesting. Just one more question, dear."

"Shoot."

"Why is your brain split up in the first place?"

"Your mind does amazing things when you're in a small apartment with limited friends and lots of alone time...sometimes video games alone aren't enough."

"Ah, that makes much more sense now." She smiled nervously. She obviously was lying, but you didn't care. As long as she didn't think you were crazy...

"...So...what do I do...?" You honestly didn't know if she'd be able to help or not.

"Now, we go and talk to Big Mac. He'll know how to fix this."

"WOAH NELLY, I AM NOT ABOUT TO FACE HIM AFTER I MADE HIS SISTER DESPAIR!"

"But you must...YOU MUST...**YOU MUSSST!**"

_Where did THAT come from..._

Your brain shrugged.

"I'm not, and you cannot make me." You went over to your chair and sat down. "I'd rather be playing my games right now."

"Oh, is that a challenge?" Rarity gave you an adamant glare.

"No, it's a warning."

"That's cheating, darling."

"It's not cheating, it's an alternate strategy."

"Whatever, you're still coming with me."

"What are you going to do? Drag me out of this house by my chair? Because that wou-" You were cut off by Rarity placing a hand on the back of your chair and easily rolling (It had wheels, BLAST!) you out.

"Wha...What do you think you're doing?" You snapped.

"Dragging you out of this house by your chair, what else?" She said innocently.

"WELL THEN!" You tried to think of something else to say, but the words never came to you.

"Oh hush." She walked past your door. You stuck your feet out on either side of you and tried to keep her from dragging you out.

"Oh, you want to do this the hard way? Fine." Her voice suddenly took a mildly mischievous tone, which slightly scared you.

"Uh oh...UMM, I MEAN...DO YOUR WORST, VILLAN!"

"As you wish..." Rarity reached her hands to your sides quickly and started tickling them.

"ASCKJFTAH! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE...THAT'S FREAKING CHEHEHEATING! HAHAHAHA!" You couldn't hold back your peals of laughter.

"It's not cheating, it's an alternate strategy~" Rarity sang...

_OOOHHHH! She told youuuuuu~_

_Shut up, brain..._

In the process of being tickled, you flailed around and therefore, you let your feet go from their posts on either side of the door. Immediately afterwards, Rarity dragged you out to the steps and then told you to hold on to the seat. Your eyes grew to the size of saucers...was she serious!

She started dragging you down the steps...hell YEAH you did what she told! Your chair rocked and bounced as she _drug you down the freaking __**stairs**_ and continued to drag you to the front door. Your parents finally noticed this and gave you a quizzical look. It was then that you stood up and grabbed rarity's wrist that held your seat.

"Okay, I get it! I'll go talk to Big Mac."

"Good. Right this way, darling."

You grumbled obscenities at her under your breath. How does she just...get her way so easily?

Nonetheless, you followed her out of the house and shut the door. Your parents looked at each other, shrugged, and went about their daily business...

**Author's note: Well now, I saw this and decided to add more stuff on it as some 'last minute revisions.' I hope you all like it and I'll try to get another one out before I leave on Friday. I'm making NO promises, but I will say that I'm doing all I can to provide you with this story that I work so hard on. In other news, I have another story in the works :D I'll try to release it sometime in the next few weeks.**


	10. Repairing the Damage

**Apple Family House, Sometime after 11...**

Applejack woke up a wreck after a night of being an emotional one. Her head was swarming with questions. The biggest two she had at the moment were:

_How did things go on such a quick down-spiral yesterday!? I haven't seen a situation go out of hand that quickly since Applebloom an' her friends tried to drive..._

The second of the two was...

_Why ain't city boy here today? Wasn't he supposed to 'ave been here hours ago?_

Those questions stewed in her head for a while. She set down the bushel of apples she had been carrying. Her arms actually ached, to her surprise. Perhaps it was just from her lack of sleep, but she was Applejack. She was continually the most athletic and strongest girl in the school. However, her somewhat gruff demeanor and not-so-social tendencies didn't make her a prize amongst the school's jocks. Not that it mattered to her, mind you. She was happy being the level headed, strong, faithful Applejack she always was to her friends.

However, she wasn't concentrating on that just now. She sat down at a nearby white oak table and thought. She had a few theories in her head for the aforementioned questions. One of which was you being just another city boy that wasn't willing to give her a chance to prove herself. There was contrary evidence to that of course, the biggest being you and Applejack's tender heart to heart conversation that resulted in her first (and therefore, best) kiss of her life. Indubitably she had her doubts if it was all real, but given the circumstances and her knowledge of boys (or in this case, lack thereof) she kept open the possibility that you really meant all those wonderful things you said. Thinking about that particular scenario made her smile on the inside just a little, and she held on to that.

No sooner had she finished her train of thought but Big Mac should casually wander in and give his little sister a warm smile. She smiled back politely, however Big Mac picked up on her lack of enthusiasm.

"Come on now, this isn't the Applejack I know an' love. What's goin' on, sis?" He stooped down and laid a burly hand on Applejack's shoulder.

"Nothin' Mac, I'm jus' fine." She quipped, adjusting the stetson atop of her head.

"Applejack, I've known you since you was born, an' I know when my sister ain't okay, so out with it." Big Mac insisted.

Applejack narrowed her eyes bitterly at her brother. "Really, I'm fi-"

Big Mac gave her a look that said 'bitch, I swear I will use the stare again.'

Applejack sighed. "...Fine. You win."

"Darn, tootin.' Now tell me what has you all tied up in your own lasso."

Applejack hunched her muscular shoulders and pressed her face against the table, muttering something.

"Well, aren'tcha gonna tell me?"

She lifted her head up from the table just a bit. "Jus' did."

"I didn't hear ya, so say it again."

Applejack blew out a sigh and lowered her head so that her chin touched her fingers resting on the table, shoulders still hunched. "Mfffurty bur..." Her voice was heavily muffled by her sleeve.

Big Mac's eyebrows rose ever so slightly. "Pardon?"

Applejack lifted her head a little and stuck her lower lip out, still muffling her voice with her sleeve. "Mffity bfoy..."

"Come on Applejack, since when are you your friend Fluttershy all the sudden?"

Applejack lifted her head all the way up."Consarn it, Big Mac. How many times do I need to say it!?" She then put her head back down.

"I wouldn't call it 'saying,' sounds more like stalling to me. Speaking of which, yer doing an amazing job of doing so."

"Wha...I'm not stalling! What in tarnation would give you that idea?" She went out of her way to adjust the stetson hat on her head.

Big Mac knew Applejack more than anyone. When she unnecessarily adjusted the stetson hat atop of her head, it meant she wasn't telling the truth. Or at least, not the _whole_ truth. Big Mac liked this trait in her since it made her a terrible liar (than she already was) and furthermore, it was hilarious to see her freak out when he called her out on it.

"Was it really necessary to adjust your hat just now?" Big Mac deadpanned, knowing he had Applejack cornered.

"Consarn it, Big Mac. That's cheating." A mild blush burned across her face.

"S'not cheating, it's an alternate strategy." Big Mac said, amused at his sister's reaction.

Applejack lifted her head up, scowled at her brother and took a deep breath...

"It's city boy okay!? I think I love him! No wait, scratch that. I know I do. He won't leave my mind an' he keeps making me love him, then hate him, then love him again, and...Oogh, I'm sorry Big Mac, I don't want you to see me like this..." Her eyes teared up a bit before she continued. "I've never been in love before, I never wanted to. It jus'...it happened okay!? I really dun wanna say it, but I honestly can't bring m'self to fully realize I do. Main reason? He jus' doesn't seem like a good match fer me and my heart says he is. Oh, if only you understood, Mac..." She started mildly sobbing on the table.

Big Mac wasn't fazed, as usual. Keeping his composure was an art he mastered.

He blew out a sigh. _Figures..._ He thought. Rarity had called Big Mac telling him that there was a complication yesterday and so as a result you should not have to be at work today. However, Rarity would bring you by later anyway due to her having another one of her oh so _brilliant_ plans.

"AJ." Said Big Mac, taking a seat next to his ruffled sister. "I know what you're going through. Everyone's first time falling in love is rough... 'specially since in your case, you really didn't want to love him. However, ya gotta realize that what yer going through is a hormonal imbalance that is counterproductive to yer ultimate goal."

Applejack stopped sobbing and brought her head up in shock from hearing her brother utter such large words. She stopped and thought about what her brother had said for a minute, then turned to him with a mild scowl on her face.

"Are you sayin' that I'm overreacting like Rarity and all this sobbing isn't getting me anywhere?"

Big Mac nodded slightly. "Eeyup."

Applejack stared into her brother's unfazing gaze, she kept staring into his neutral yet comforting eyes as if trying to figure out how to respond to that. Just then, her level-headed side kicked in and fully caused her to realize the truth in his words.

"I...guess yer right, Big Mac. I need to stop wallowing in pity and do somethin.' If not, I ain't gonna get _nowhere_."

"Eeyup." Said Big Mac with a hint of triumph in his voice and what looked like a small smile.

"Now...what do I do now?" Applejack said, half asking Big Mac and half asking herself.

"Dunno, it ain't my love story." Big Mac said plainly. "But I will tell you that Rarity might bring 'im over so ya don't have to drag his ass out." Applejack and him shared a mild chuckle.

"Did I ever tell you I loved you, Big Mac?" Said Applejack, lightly socking her brother on the shoulder.

"Eeyup, now go finish up yer chores before I tell 'im you had a mental breakdown earlier." He teased, playing on Applejack's sense of pride.

His words hit Applejack right where he wanted them to as Applejack stood up almost immediately. "N-no! You will do no such thing, ya varmit." She threatened, locking eyes with an intimidating gaze before dashing off to finish her chores.

Big Mac shook his head. "Pfft, young adults and their hormones..." And went back to work.


	11. New Chapters!

Hello everyone.

As you can see, this story lacks updates.

BUT DO NOT FRET, IT'S STILL ALIVE AND KICKING!

I have moved on from this site to fimfiction. The interface is much more user friendly and it's very easy to get an account there. No verification shit or message timeout limit or anything. Plus, you get to read blogs posted by other authors and comment on them like a message forum. It's super fun! ^.^

I encourage you all to head on over to this site and look up this story. I am under the same username as I am on here, and I have also posted new stories not shown on this site such as "Twilight Sparkle Cleans her Bookshelves, and Vice-Versa."  
I'll give you a hint on what it's about: It's tentacle porn, a new talent I found out I have.

I hope to see you all there!

Much love,

Jexxazrez


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